A Hollow's Fairy Tail
by Zrocker119
Summary: A man can only be pushed so far before finally giving in. Ryu had long since reached his breaking point but felt that it was his duty to continue on. But now that he had served his purpose the young Arrancar was ready to die in peace, but something prevented that from happening. Stranded in a new world he struggles to find purpose but a certain guild is there to help him.
1. Chapter 1

**Zrocker119: Hello everyone! Now I know that I said that I wasn't going to start posting this rewrite until I had it completely finished, but I've come to realize that I'm far too impatient for that. So, I've decided to do something different. From this point on, I will one post a new chapter once I have the next two finished.**

 **One last thing before we get started. I want to give my most sincere thanks to** **YeTiansh for beta reading this story. Couldn't have done it without you my friend.**

 **-Story Start-**

Within the heart of the city known as Karakura Town, the sounds of battle could be heard as two beings of immense power battled. The air trembled as their swords clashed, creating fresh sparks at the points of collision. One of the two, an Arrancar by the name of Ryu Sato, fought with the intent to kill his foe, while his target Sosuke Aizen only wanted to test his new found abilities that came with his transcended state of existence.

Jumping back with a flip, Ryu attempted to clip Aizen's chin with his foot while also putting distance between them. He only managed to achieve the latter as Aizen leaned his head slightly back, causing his foot to barely miss. Growling Ryu created a white flame in his hand and thrust it forward. The flame condensed into dozens of swords that flew toward their summoners foe.

Their target didn't even flinch as the wall of blades closed in on him. With only a bat of his wings the weapons scattered throughout the area around him.

Ryu smirked, and clasped his hands together before spreading them apart as more fire formed between his palms. The Arrancar blasted the flames around Aizen, creating an enormous wall of fire that surrounded him. Like before the flames condensed into hundreds upon hundreds of blades of all shapes and sizes, from katanas and greatswords, to halberds and daggers.

Aizen glanced around at the array of weaponry that had completely surrounded him from all sides. "It would seem that you've taken your pyrokinesis to levels of precision that even I couldn't foresee. To go from simple blasts of fire to creating solid weapons in just a year. Even the Captain Commander couldn't control the flames of Ryujin Jakka to this extent. Very impressive, Ryu."

"Thanks," Ryu's smirk fell. "You want to know something, Aizen? Even if you weren't responsible for me and my sister's death, if it was just a freak accident that that pack of hollows found us on their own, and us dying that night was meant to be, I would still find myself standing right here." A feral smile found its way onto his face as his eyes glowed lightly in turn. "You used my race as pawns in your little quest to become a god, and then threw us away once we were of no longer use."

Holding his hand out with the palm facing an ever smirking Aizen, Ryu said. "You may have given me the strength to fight my own battles, but you're also responsible for the death of my sister. And for that you must die. _Lloviendo el Fuego_." Clenching his hand into a fist signaled all of the blades to rain down upon Aizen, burying him beneath a mountain of flaming steel.

Not quite finished yet, Ryu mentally gave the order for all the weapons to detonate. The mound exploded into a giant pillar of white fire that shot hundreds of meters into the sky in a spectacular, yet frightening display of destruction.

Ryu couldn't tell if Aizen was still alive. He couldn't rely on sensing his spiritual energy as he had transcended to a higher state of being that was beyond Ryu's ability to comprehend. 'I have to see his lifeless corpse to be sure.' The flames faded away a few moments later and revealed a barren crater several meters in both depth and diameter. Had he not been focusing all of that attack into a single spot, it would've leveled the entire city. The lack of damage to the surrounding area spoke volumes of his control.

Not seeing a body lying at the bottom of the crater Ryu thought, 'Did his body turn to ash? It wouldn't surprise me with the level of heat that I generated.' The sound of something shattering behind him quickly caught his attention. Turning around, his demonic eyes widened at what he had witnessed. Blue particles of energy gathered together and took on the form of Aizen, seemingly unharmed by his attack.

Smirking smugly at him Aizen spoke, "I must commend you Ryu. Never could I have imagined that you would attain the level of power that you currently possess. Had I not transcended, your last attack would've been the end of me. But thanks to the fear that you and Gin made me experience, such an emotion is no longer needed. And for that," In an instant Aizen stood before him with a hand to his chest. "You have my thanks."

With a gentle push of his hand, Aizen sent Ryu careening backwards with no signs of stopping. After crashing through several buildings, Ryu managed to finally land on his feet. His momentum hadn't slowed however, as his feet carved into the pavement from his attempt to slow himself down.

After several more meters of tearing up the ground, Ryu finally came to a grinding stop. 'Wh-what the hell!' He screamed internally. 'I couldn't even see him move!' Gritting his teeth Ryu crouched with one hand to the ground and prepared to launch himself back in the direction he had came from. It was at that moment that the arm he had been leaning on fell to the ground.

Ryu only had a moment to stare at the appendage in shock before a large amount of blood splattered the ground around him, having erupted from a multitude of cuts that suddenly appeared all over his body. The loss of blood proved to be too much for him to handle, and so he fell to his knees.

His breath labored, Ryu glanced up to see Aizen standing before him. A fresh coat of blood dripped off of his blade. 'I-I didn't even see him move,' Ryu thought as all of his hopes for revenge came crashing down. Even with the extraordinary powers granted to him by his Resurreccion, it just wasn't enough.

"Do you see now?" Asked Aizen. "You never sto-"

Ryu used the remnants of his strength to summon a sword into his remaining hand and stabbed Aizen in the shoulder. He tried to anyway. The blade failed to pierce his skin, but succeeded in shutting the gloating bastard up. "Shut up with that monaloging bullshi-"

It was Ryu's turn to be interrupted as his jaw was forced shut by Aizen's foot. The force from the kick sent him head over heels multiple times before slamming him into a pile of rubble. Despite the pain it brought his jaw, Ryu chuckled. "Hehehe worth it-ah fuck that hurts." After situating himself so that he was sitting with his back against the pile he glanced around and found himself back in the area where he first confronted Aizen.

Out of the corner of his vision Ryu could see the group of highschoolers and single adult that Aizen had been slowly chasing after early on. "Why the hell are you all still here?" They all jumped at the sound of his voice.

Ryu didn't bother to listen to their answer but instead chose to glance over to his left, where he could spot Gin, one of the few friends that he had made. Gin laid motionless, dying, along with the woman he cared for crying above him.

"Don't know about you Gin, but this sucks."

"Still the comedian I see. Even when near death," Spoke Gin. His voice had been quiet to the point of barely being audible, but Ryu heard him nonetheless.

"We've all died before remember," Ryu stated, seeing as they were all spirits to begin with. "Besides, if I'm going to die, then I want to die smiling this time around." A loud crash a few meters from him caught his attention. Looking up he smirked at who had arrived. "Bout damn time you showed up, Kurosaki," He muttered.

Ichigo spared him a glance before he dropped his father to the ground, "Thanks, Dad."

That was all Ryu was able to hear as his senses started to leave him. His hearing went first, then his sense of smell. He couldn't even taste the blood in his mouth. But, he refused to allow his eyes to close. He wanted, no, needed to see what happened next...and he wasn't disappointed.

'Hehehe, the look on that bastard's face,' Ryu thought after he saw Aizen literally get carried away into the horizon by Ichigo. Clutching the bleeding stump that made up his left arm, he gathered all of the strength that he had remaining and forced himself to stand up. He succeeded in doing so, and slowly started to walk, but not in the direction that the final battle was taking place.

No. Ryu knew that he had done all that he could up till this point. After seeing the resolve in Kurosaki's eyes, he knew that everything would turn out alright. His fight was over, and he had someone that he had to visit one last time.

Walking at a painfully slow pace, it took Ryu a bit longer than he would've liked, but he eventually managed to reach his destination. Shoving the cemetery gate open with his shoulder Ryu walked inside. His vision was just about gone at that point, but he didn't need it to find the grave he was looking for.

"Hey, Rin," Ryu spoke after taking a seat with his back against his sister's tombstone. The last time he had been there was when he had to bring Orihime to Hueco Mundo. But this time Ryu wasn't going anywhere. "Sorry I wasn't here for long last time, but I had something very important to do. But you don't need to worry anymore."

Ryu reached down with his armored hand, and gently stroked the grass beneath him, mentally replacing it with the image of Rin's long, crimson locks. "I've got so much to tell you that I don't even know where to begin."

.

.

.

"I guess I'll start with the friends that I managed to make. The first ones being Nel and Takeshi. Nel's pretty energetic and is a handful most of the time, even after we got her mask fixed. You would've liked her, she's goofy and likes to play games, but is willing to fight when needed."

"Now Takeshi, hehehe...He was quite the hardass when I first met him. Always grouchy and wanting to sleep, but Nel and I managed to break him out of his shell. He was always looking to prove to others that he wasn't weak, despite not being an Espada. When he met Mila Rose though, oh man it was like the two were struck by cupid's arrow."

Ryu tried to laugh but started coughing up mouthfuls of blood instead as his condition worsened, but he wasn't done telling Rin about the important people in his life after death.

"The next two that joined my Fraccion were Loly and Menoly. Like Takeshi, the two of them were hard to get along with. Well more Loly than Menoly, as the latter was pretty chill from the start. We grew close though. I'm sure they're going to be devastated once they learn about my betrayal. I hope they can move on."

"After them is my friend/rival, Grimmjow. Well he considers himself my rival. He has never gotten close to defeating me whenever we sparred. He's a bit too prideful at times, like when he lost his final fight against Kurosaki. I'm sure Nel will straighten him out at some point though."

"Next is Gin. He's a good man, but has the habit of talking to people with mock politeness. We got along well enough for me to consider him a friend though, mostly due to us having a common enemy, but a friend nonetheless."

"The last one would have to be Ulquiorra." Ryu had to actually pause and think of a way to describe the emotionless Arrancar. "We weren't really friends per say, but there was a mutually feeling of respect between the two of us. We liked to play a game of chess every once in awhile."

Ryu stopped petting the grass and sighed. He couldn't move his arm anymore, he couldn't even feel his wounds. All he knew was that he was tired, tired of all the bullshit he had to go through to get to where he was.

But now...now he could finally rest.

'Don't worry Rin,' Ryu thought as he closed his eyes for the last time. 'Big brother isn't going anywhere...not again.' That was the last thing on his mind before he finally passed on.

.

.

.

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on who you ask, Ryu's role in things to come wasn't as over as he would like to think.

* * *

"So...you're the best option huh?" A voice said to no one but itself as they watched the lifeless body of Ryu that floated in the gap that existed between dimensions. "The irony of this is lost to all but me."

The one that spoke was a middle aged man of average height with sharp features. His medium length, dark hair was kept combed neatly back. He was dressed in black slacks, matching shoes and a dark grey, button up dress shirt and had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. But the most noticeable feature of the man had were his eyes. Instead of having pupils and irises his eyes seemed to emit a soft, white glow.

Raising his hand the man summoned what could only be described as a divine ball of light. With a flick of the man's wrist, the orb flew through the air and directly into Ryu's chest. The Arrancar's eyes and mouth shot open as rays of light shone from them. The damage that he had sustained during his fight with Aizen seemingly disappeared, even his missing arm had been restored. After several minutes the lights dispersed, leaving Ryu floating in the endless void, but instead, he was alive once more, and completely healed.

"The journey that you're about to unwillingly partake in will not be an easy one, Mr. Sato," the man said as he flicked his wrist once more. This time a swirling, white vortex appeared beneath the unconscious Cero Espada. "There will be many hardships that you must overcome. You will hate me in the beginning for denying you the peace that you deserve, but I'm certain that you will find happiness in my world. I'll contact you once my enemies make their move. Until then follow what your soul tells you."

Having said what he must, the man sent Ryu through the portal.

When Ryu next awoke it wouldn't be as a normal soul to wander the Rukongai for all of eternity. No, when he woke, it would be in a world that he, even being as in tune with the supernatural as he, couldn't have imagined in his wildest dreams.

End Prologue

* * *

Chapter 1

The chirping of birds was the sound that Ryu was awakened by. He opened his eyes to find himself lying on his back. The sun was high in the sky as it shone through the canopy of trees above him.

"Where, where am I?" Ryu said as he sat up. He looked around to see that he was surrounded by a thick, lush forest on all sides. "I must be on the outer edges of the Rukongai. That would be the only explanation for the tr-" He stopped speaking as realization hit him with the force of an enraged menos.

'I-I shouldn't know about the Rukongai!' Ryu looked himself over really quick. His arm was back and he was still dressed in his Espada clothes, void of any signs of wear and tear. His Zanpakuto was strapped to his waist, and having touched the upper right portion of his face, he knew that his mask was still there. He even looked down his shirt to see if his hollow hole was still present. It was.

'Why am I still an Arrancar?' Ryu was confused beyond belief. He died, again! He knew this. He felt his very life and soul slip away whilst he sat at his sister's grave. He was finally ready to rest in peace. So why the hell was he still a hollow!?

Ryu's confusion was replaced by rage as he stood up, a cero already charged in one of his hands. With a shout of anger he fired the beam of energy deeper into the forest. He didn't stop with just one though. Not a second after the first one was fired, he sent another one after it. He launched one after another.

After several minutes of discharging cero's Ryu fell to his knees, the forest in front of him having been thoroughly reduced to ashes. His body still shook with rage but he forced himself to calm down. Anger would do him no good.

Ryu stood with a heavy sigh, closed his eyes. To any passerbyer it would seem that he was just standing around, but to him, an invisible ring had shot out from around him. In an instant, Ryu could sense everything with spiritual energy for miles all around. But that wasn't the only thing he sensed.

In the air was, something. It was almost like spiritual energy but completely different at the same time. It was also everywhere. From the plant life around him to the earth beneath his feet. Whatever it was though, it gave Ryu insight to where he was, and that was somewhere he had never been before.

"One thing's for sure though, this ain't the Soul Society," he grumbled. With hands in his pockets he started walking in a completely random direction. After all, he wouldn't get anywhere by just standing around and doing nothing.

* * *

Ryu wasn't sure of how long he had been walking for. The sun was high in the sky when he started and was now replaced by the full moon that hung above him. He wasn't in a hurry though. Even though his wounds had been completely healed by means unknown to him, his spiritual pressure had yet to recover fully. Even after the, what he guessed to be a large, amount of time between his awakening and now he was only sitting at about 40% of his maximum amount of power without his Resurreccion. His power wasn't gone per-say, just returning much slower than it should be.

He doubted that he would encounter someone of the Head captain's, let alone Aizen's level, but it was better to be safe than sorry. So he was going to take as much time as he need-

A sudden wave of the energy he could sense in the air washed over him. It wasn't all that powerful, about as high as a freshly evolved Gillian class hollow, but it was enough to warrant his attention. After all, it was the strongest source of energy he had felt so far. It felt like it was a couple miles away so he decided to get there quickly.

With a flick of his feet Ryu rocketed through the trees and undergrowth that made up the forest, gaining speed until the world seemed to blur around him. In the same time it took the average person to blink, he had closed to distance between him and the source of energy by almost half. He wasn't even using sonido, the Arrancar equivalent of Shunpo. This was just Ryu using the raw, physical strength of the muscles in his legs.

A fraction of a second later Ryu stopped at the edge of a small clearing and saw something that almost made his eyes widen in shock. The key word being almost.

A giant large, beast-like creature with large muscles and horns stood menacingly over a much smaller human girl. The girl had short, white hair and wore a reddish-pink outfit. Behind her on the other side of the clearing was another girl with long white hair. She seemed to be injured though, as her right arm hung limply and one of her ankles was swollen.

"It's okay Elfman," the girl closest to the beast said as she opened up her arms in a welcoming gesture. "Mira and I know that you didn't mean hurt her."

"Get away from him, Lisanna! Elfman can't control himself! In his current state he'll kill you!" Shouted the one Ryu assumed to be Mira after the now named Lisanna mentioned to the beast, who was apparently named Elfman.

Lisanna didn't falter in her stance in the slightest, even as Elfman's arm raised to strike her down. "Come back to us brother. Then we can go back to Fairy Tail, to our family." Ryu's eyes actually widened at her declaration.

Elfman paused, seemingly affected by his sister's words. Ryu was about to let out a sigh of relief, but then saw the beasts muscles tense up and immediately knew what was coming next.

The beast roared and brought a fist down onto his smiling sister with a thunderous crash.

"LISANNA!" Mirajane cried as a cloud of smoke and dust obscured the view of what she could only assume to be the bloodied corpse of her sister. The smoke cleared a few moments later and she was greeted by the sight of the last thing she expected.

A young man stood with his left side to her and Lisanna. He was tall, just under six foot, with blood red, shoulder-length hair that had a slight wave to it near the tips. His clothes looked like that of a samurai, with white hakama pants and a long, white coat with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. A black sash was tied around his waist where a katana was tucked into.

What shocked her the most though was that he had his right hand in the air, the back of which halted Elfman's giant fist completely.

Without saying a word the man moved his hand in a way that redirected Elfman's fist into the ground. Not finished, he crouched down and with a small twirl smashed Elfman in the jaw with a spinning, open palm uppercut.

Her transformed brother's head snapped back. He went rigid for a moment before falling backwards with a loud crash. His body glowed a bright golden color before reverting back to his human form completely unconscious.

The man landed back on the ground only this time he was now facing them. Mirajane couldn't help but notice that he couldn't be more than a few years older than herself. The skull-like mask that covered the upper right portion of his face and demonic looking right eye unnerved her slightly, but it didn't detract from his overall handsome appearance.

Ryu glanced a look over his shoulder at the creature only to see the body of a young boy lying there. 'The hell is going on here?' Moving that thought aside for the time being, he turned his attention to the two girls currently staring at him with gaping mouths and wide eyes.

After a few moments of awkward silence Ryu finally said, "You two alright?"

His question seemed to snap the older of the two out of her stupor. "Y-you knocked him out." It sounded like she couldn't believe what she just saw.

Ryu pointed to Lisanna. "I arrived just as she said that that thing was your brother. So I decided to hold back and knocked him out." He explained as he crossed his arms. What Ryu didn't say though was that he wasn't sure of how much of his strength to hold back and only used the bare minimum he could possibly use, and that he wasn't even sure if that wouldn't accidentally kill him.

'H-he held back!' Was the shared thought between the Strauss sisters. How strong was this guy that he could beat an S-class monster while holding back.

Ryu looked the duo over for a moment before walking past the younger of the two, Lisanna if he had heard correctly. "I'll go help your sister with her injuries while you check him out," he said to her as he jerked a thumb at the fallen form of her brother.

Lisanna nodded dumbly and rushed over to her brother.

Meanwhile Ryu reached Mirajane, who looked at him with an air of caution. He either didn't notice or care as he checked her injuries and spoke, "Looks like your arm is broken on top of being dislocated. I'll have to pop it back in before setting the brake."

"You seem to know what you're doing." Mira noted, slightly surprised by his diagnosis of her injuries.

"I've been injured pretty bad myself on more than a few occasions," he said while thinking about all of the close calls he had. He placed his one hand on her shoulder while the other held her arm in a gentle, but firm grip. "On three. Ready?"

Mira noded.

"1...2-"

Snap/Pop!

Mira bit back a cry of pain as Ryu popped her elbow back and set the bone in one swift motion.

He found himself on the receiving end of one of her fiercest glares, "I didn't hear a three."

"That's because I never said it...three." Her glare intensified. Seemingly unaffected by it, Ryu tore a strip off the bottom of his coat and wrapped it around her arm in the form of a makeshift sling. "Let me help you stand," he said as he offered her a hand.

Mirajane brushed his hand aside as she replied, "Thanks but I'm fine." She managed to stand on her own but immediately fell the moment she applied pressure on her injured ankle.

Before she could hit the ground though, she was caught by Ryu, who put one of her arms around his shoulders and a hand around her waist.

As he helped her walk he said, "Trust me, I'm pretty prideful myself but even I know when I need help standing, let alone walking."

Mirajane looked away, a small blush apparent on her cheeks. Both from embarrassment but also the close proximity between them. She could, involuntarily, feel the hardness of his muscles through his clothes. "Try and cop a feel and I'll break your hand," she said in a threatening tone.

"I give you permission to do so if my hand so much as twitches in the wrong direction," Ryu said evenly. Though it took all of his self control not to break out into a blush. The woman was strikingly beautiful after all, and her choice of clothing only added emphasis to her voluptuous figure. Plus he could feel how soft her skin was.

Pushing raging hormones aside, Ryu mentally smacked himself as he realized that he never introduced himself. "I'm Ryu. Ryu Sato."

"Mirajane Strauss, but everyone just calls me Mira. My younger siblings are Elfman and Lisanna," responded Mirajane.

"Mirajane," Ryu whispered, letting the name roll off tongue. " I wish it were under better circumstances but it's nice to meet you."

Having reached her siblings, Ryu gently set Mira down, and just as he did Elfman began to stir.

"Ugh...My head," Elfman said as he sat up. His eyes immediately fell on his sisters. "Mira, Lisanna, what happened? How did you get hurt Mira?" He asked as he saw his older sibling in her injured state.

"Do you not remember what happened?" Elfman's head snapped in Ryu's direction, who he hadn't even noticed standing there. "I don't know the details but if I had to wager a guess...it would be that you lost control of that beast form and attacked your sisters here. Am I right?"

"Yes," Mirajane nodded sadly. "I wasn't strong enough to take out the beast, so Elfman tried using his Take-Over to control it, but it was too strong."

Elfman looked horrified at her words and turned to Lisanna for confirmation. She nodded as well. "I-I was the one that did that to you," He said as tears began to fall down his cheeks. "I-I'm so so-ACH!"

Elfman was interrupted by Ryu punching him on top of his head. Even Mirajane and Lisanna looked stunned and confused by his actions. "None of the sappy I'm sorry shit."

"But I could've kill-ACH!"

Ryu hit him yet again before crossing his arms. "Yes you fucked up. Sure you could've killed one of your sisters, but you didn't. So instead of worrying about what could've happened focus on making sure that it can NEVER happen. Become stronger and learn to control your power, because very few things suck more than having power, but not being able to handle it."

Lisanna and Elfman stared at him with expressions of awe and understanding, but Mira on the other hand, she looked somewhat confused by his words. To her it sounded like he was speaking from experience.

"Now can someone tell me, just where the hell I am?" Ryu asked after a moment. "I'm more than a little lost. I've been wandering around these woods for what feels like hours."

The siblings quickly sweat-dropped at his words. 'He's lost.'

"You can come with us back to our guild," Lisanna suggested. "Our guild master will want to thank you personally for helping us, but first we have to return to the town that hired us and inform them that the beast has been taken care of."

Ryu shrugged his shoulders and helped Mirajane to her feet once again, "Lead the way."

The now group of four began the long trek back to town when Ryu asked one more thing, "What's a guild?" The only thing that kept Mira from face planting was Ryu himself. Otherwise she would've joined her brother and sister on the ground.

* * *

"So let me get this straight. I'm in the kingdom of Fiore. You three can draw the energy I feel in the air into your bodies and by doing so can utilize it to cast magic, which makes you mages. Not only that but 10% of the world's population can also do the same. Have I missed anything so far?"

The siblings that sat across from him all nodded their heads in perfect unison.

Ryu bit back the sudden urge to repeatedly bash his head against the wall in a comedic fashion, "Good just making sure." He was in a different fucking world. How he ended up here, or more importantly why was unknown to him. He would find the answer to those questions eventually.

For now though Ryu was going to stick with following the Strauss family to their guild, Fairy Tail. Apparently guilds were places where mages join and pick up job requests. Mercenaries if you will. He found the name of their guild to be a bit strange, but he would withhold judgment until they arrived. After picking up their reward the four of them got on a train that was headed toward to the city Magnolia Town, where their guild was based.

Once on the train, they began answering his questions, and boy was there a lot of them.

"How do you not know any of this?" Mirajane asked with a raised brow. All of the answers to his questions was common knowledge. She found it exasperating that someone clearly as powerful as him would be that oblivious to the world around him.

"Let's just say that I'm very far away from home," Ryu said before he turned his attention to the passing scenery. "Where I'm from people like myself are very rare. I don't know the exact number but it wouldn't even come close to a single percent of my home's entire population. Besides, we tend to keep a low profile so very few normal people even know of our existence."

"How does someone with your power and appearance keep a low profile," Mirajane commented, thinking of how he handled an out of control Elfman effortlessly.

Turning to them Ryu raised a single brow, before his lips turned upward into a smirk. "Very carefully," was his ominous reply.

Before they could question him anymore, he leaned back into his seat and closed his eyes. His breathing became slowed and relaxed, signifying that he had fallen asleep. Seeing that they weren't going to be getting anymore answers out of him, the siblings shared a look before they decided to follow his example.

The stress of the day having caught up with them, they too fell into the soft tune of sleep.

* * *

It wouldn't be until several hours later that they arrived in Magnolia. The sky was darkening as the sun had begun to set. The swelling in Mirajane's ankle had gone down enough so that she could walk on her own and now lead them through the town. As Ryu followed the siblings, he took the time to admire the architecture around him.

'Just where have I ended up?' He thought, taking note of how old-fashioned the buildings around him were.

A short walk later they arrived at their destination. "So this is your guild?" Ryu asked as he stood before a large wooden building with a strange symbol hanging from it. It was much bigger than what he was expecting.

"Yeah," Mirajane said as Elfman pushed the giant wooden doors open. Ryu felt his eye twitch at what was awaiting them inside. It looked like the whole place was in the middle of a giant bar brawl. Chairs, bottles, tables and he was pretty sure he saw several people get launched as well.

"Don't worry, it's usually like this," Lisanna said with a reassuring smile as she and her older siblings moved through the chaos.

Ryu sighed and followed suit, taking care to avoid the assortment of flying projectiles. One bottle came close and almost smashed into the side of his face, but he caught it at the last second. He glanced down at it and saw that it was wine.

With a shrug, he popped the cork and took a swig before he tossed it back into the fray.

.

.

.

It wasn't half bad.

They eventually managed to get through the crowd and reach the bar on the other side. Sitting on one of the multiple stools was an old-man that wore an orange jacket, shorts, a white shirt and what looked like an orange and blue striped jester's hat.

"Master."

The man perked up at the sound of Mirajane's voice. "Ah, Mira, I'm glad to see that you're all bac-what happened to you!?" The old-man jumped off of his seat and began checking the siblings over, much like that of a concerned parent.

Ryu had to stop himself from snickering once he saw how comically short their guild master was. He barely came past his kneecaps.

Mira looked down dejectedly, "The monster we were after was much stronger than we thought. After it beat me Elfman tried using his Take-Over and-"

"And that's when I stepped in." Ryu spoke, making himself known. "I happened to be passing by when their energy tingled on the edge of my senses, so I decided to go and investigate. The name's Ryu Sato by the way."

"Makarov Dreyar, Third guild master of Fairy Tail." Makarov looked at the young man before him. "If we're to discuss the full details of what happened, I think it would be best done in private." Walking through a door that sat off to the side, Makarov waved for them to follow.

The group did just that and soon found themselves in the man's office. Makarov jumped onto his desk before he turned to them and motioned for them to take a seat. The siblings do so but Ryu remained standing.

Clearing his throat, Makarov spoke, "Now, tell me exactly what happened."

And so they did.

* * *

Ryu sat on one of the stools at the bar. He had his elbows on the edge and his back to the counter. To his sides were the siblings. They had finished the retelling of today's events to Makarov a few minutes ago. The process had taken several hours as they had started from the point of when they entered the forest, so it was well into the middle of the night by the time they had finished.

"So what are you going to do?"

Ryu's eyes glanced in Mirajane's direction. After several moments of silence, he shrugged, "The old-man's offer is tempting," He began to say. Shortly after finishing their tale, Makarov had thanked Ryu profusely for saving his children, and had asked him to join the guild. "But, I'm going to have to decline."

"But why?" Lisanna asked, clearly confused by his decision. This would be the first time any of them have heard of someone turning down an offer to join Fairy Tail.

"I was fighting a war." Spoke Ryu, "It was nearly over. I was completely out of energy, missing an arm and dying. I was ready face my fate...but instead of arriving at the doors of heaven or hell, I found myself waking in a forest, completely healed with my energy returning to me, on a continent that I had never heard of."

The siblings could only stare in shock at his revelation. For someone so young speak of fighting in a war and willingly embrace death, it was unnerving to say the least.

"I need to find answers. I need to find the reason for waking here...and I can't do that by staying in one place." Pushing himself off the counter, Ryu walked out of the guild. "Get stronger you three. I won't be around to save you next time."

"Hey!" Ryu stopped in mid step and looked over his shoulder. Mira had stood up and was glaring at him. "Make sure you come back if you can't find a way home. The masters offer will still stand." She pointed at him with her working hand, "Also, we're going to fight you the next time we meet. We'll show you that we won't need saving!"

Ryu blinked at her declaration. He held her gaze for a moment longer before he reared his head back in laughter. "Aha-ha-ha-ha-ha! You better get way stronger then if you want to land a scratch on me." His laughter died down and he resumed walking. Hands in his pockets he tossed a wave over his shoulder and disappeared with a burst of static, but not before they heard him say.

"Take care."

 **-End-**


	2. Chapter 2

**Zrocker119: Well not really much that I need to say this time around. Only that I'm glad to see that people seem to like this new and improved version.**

 **-Start-**

Two weeks had passed since the night Ryu left. The siblings held true to their word and had thrown themselves into training. Everyday from 8am to 2pm, they would work on increasing their magical power and their Take-Over ability. Mirajane was forced by her siblings to sit on the sidelines, due to her arm still not being fully healed. She had objected to this of course but Lisanna and Elfman wouldn't budge on their stance.

So Mirajane watched with an utterly bored expression from the edge of the clearing while her younger siblings trained with Natsu. "Stupid arm," She grumbled, "Hurry up and heal already."

"You sure seem to be having fun," A voice said somewhat mockingly.

Mira felt her eye twitch, "Oh bite me Erza."

"I think I'll pass," Erza said as she took a seat next to her rival. "So how's the arm?" She asked with genuine concern. It came as a big shock to the guild when they found out what had transpired on the trio's last request. What shocked them even further though was that one of their guilds three S-class mages was saved by the mysterious Ryu person that, apparently, held back when he knocked out the out of control Elfman.

"Still broken, but Porlyusica said I should be good to start training next week." Mira's voice was full of excitement at the prospect of throwing away the cast that held her arm prisoner. "Then I'll be able to show that guy that I won't be needing saving the next time I see him!"

A small giggle escaped from the redhead, "Wow Mira, I've never seen you get so riled up before." Erza smirked, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you have something to prove to this Ryu character. Could it be that you've been smitten by him?"

The very air seemed to drop several degrees as Mirajane sent an icy glare toward her rival, the upper half of her face was covered in shadows and her right eye seemed to glow red. "Care to repeat that, you flat chested tincan?" She knew full well that Erza wasn't flat chested at all, but it was just so much fun to pick at her.

Now it was Erza's turn to get pissed, "What did you just call me? Don't think for a second that I won't hit you just because you have a broken arm!"

"Oh please, I can still kick your ass even with a handicap. Besides," Mirajane pushed her breasts up with her cast, making them seem even bigger than they already were. "I always have had you beaten when it comes to this area," She then ran a hand down her shapely rear, "And this area. In fact, I've been thinking about become a model for Sorcerer Weekly to make some extra cash. Something that I think you couldn't even try out for."

The sound of shattering glass is both heard and felt throughout the area.

"That's it! GET OVER HERE!" Erza shouted and took off after Mira, who cackled madly in response as the enraged requip mage tried and failed to catch her.

Not too far away Elfman, Lisanna and Natsu wisely decided to avoid that area of the training field for the remainder of their session.

* * *

Meanwhile in another part of the of the country a certain redheaded Arrancar sneezed. "Why do I get the feeling that somebody's talking about kicking my ass...and why does it strangely feel...sexy?"

Shaking the feeling away, Ryu resumed his pace through the town he was in, though he couldn't quite remember the name. For the past two weeks he had been traveling from town to town, doing the odd job here and there. It wasn't much of a living but it was enough to keep himself fed. He had also bought two journals. The first was to record his experiences in this new world.

Yep, he figured out on day one that he was in a completely different universe and not a very isolated country filled with spiritually aware people. To say that he was both confused and pissed would be an understatement.

The second journal was for him to write down his past life and try to get it published into a book. Heck, he experienced life, death, the afterlife and almost everything in between, not to mention the amount of violence he had experienced throughout it all. He'd be more surprised if no one bought a book with all of that.

Ryu's inner musings are cut short however as the doors to the weapons shop across the street slam open and a little girl walked out before the door was promptly slammed shut in her face.

The girl was pretty young, 13 or 14 if he had to wager a guess. She had hazel eyes and long, purple hair that fell to the middle of her back that was cut in the traditional Japanese princess style. Her clothes, if they could be called that, was a single large white T-shirt that was several sizes too large for her and went down to her knees. It was secured to her by a black band around her waist. The sleeves were torn and jagged and the whole thing was covered in smudges of dirt.

Clutched tightly in one of her hands though, was a katana with a white sheath.

'What's a little girl doing with a weapon like that?' Ryu thought. The girl must have felt his gaze on her. Why you may ask? Because as soon as she was done giving the door the glare of death she turned her attention right at him.

The two seemed to stare the other down, before Ryu gave a small wave and walked away with his hands in his pockets.

After walking a couple blocks, Ryu knew that the girl was following him. He took a left down a somewhat empty street and as expected the girl was hot on his heels. But the moment she rounded the corner, the man she had been following had disappeared.

"Wha-"

"You know, it's not polite to follow people." She jumped and turned around. The mask wearing man now stood behind her, looking down at her with his arms crossed. "Mind telling me why you chose to follow a complete stranger?"

"...I'm looking for someone to train me on how to use a sword," She curtly answered.

"And you followed me, because?" He asked once more, not satisfied with her response.

"You have one strapped to your waist." Cue Ryu's glance at his Zanpakuto. "So you must know how to wield it. Teach me."

"...Really?" Ryu asked, disbelief practically dripping from his voice. "You based your decision on the fact that I carry a sword. What if I'm just one of those people that carry one around for the aesthetics?"

The girl stared at him in surprise. Clearly she hadn't thought of that. "Are you?" She asked with such innocence that Ryu almost melted at the look.

Almost being the keyword.

In reality he just stared blankly at her. "Well no, I'm not...but that's besides the point! You can't just come to the conclusion that I'm a master swordsman just by my looks alone!"

"...Are you?"

.

.

.

'Soul King Damn it, why's she so fucking adorable when she asked that?!' Ryu internally screamed, but on the outside he said, "Again, yes I am, but...fuck it. Why do you need someone to train you anyway?"

"So I can find and kill the one that took my brother away from me."

.

.

.

Well...this conversation got dark rather quickly didn't it?

Ryu scratched his jaw in though. On a side note, his jawline was starting to get a little scruffy and he should really shave soon. Back to the matter at hand though, he glanced down at the girl before him, who in turn stared right back. "Girl, what's your name?"

"Kagura Mikazuchi," she stated immediately.

"Hm, good name," Ryu said. "Well Kagura, I'm Ryu Sato and I've decided that I'll train you as you remind me of myself a bit, but you've got to fulfil one condition." She looked at him curiously, but nodded nonetheless. "And that condition is…"

* * *

 **Two months later**

Ryu sighed quietly to himself as he walked along a random, old dusty road. He wasn't alone though. Beside him walked his student, Kagura, only now she was in a new set of clothes instead of an old shirt.

Gone was the old sack that she used to wear, replaced by an elaborate blazer with gold lining, and a large collar, which was open to reveal a collared shirt and red tie underneath. The cuffs of the jacket were tucked into a pair of white wrist-high gloves. On her legs, she wore a pair of black tights, which were tucked into a pair of knee-high boots and sat under a short white frilled skirt. Lastly a white headband with a white ribbon sat on the top of her head, tied at the middle in a bow, pointing straight up.

Even though Ryu had bought her the clothes shortly after becoming his student, he still loved to tease her about how the bow vaguely resembles that of animal ears, and that it made her look cute.

When ever he said such a thing, Kagure always responded by pouting cutely and kicking him lightly in the shin. She kicked him hard the first time, but upon almost breaking a few toes, she found out that he had a naturally reinforced skin and so she settled on light kicks to avoid self injury. Didn't stop him from teasing her though.

The young girl was quickly growing on him, and was a very determined student when it came to learning the way of the sword. She took to wielding Archenemy like a fish to water, much faster than Ryu did when it came to learning how to fight with his Zanpakuto, but that was mostly due to the fact that he had always fought with his bare hands until he became an Arrancar.

Speaking of swordsmanship, Kagura was quickly mastering the style of the undrawn long sword. It was the one condition that Ryu said she had to agree to. It was only a temporary condition though, and once she fully mastered the style, he would move onto teaching her how to actually fight with a drawn blade. Think of it as training with a wooden sword and then moving on to the really thing, but replace wooden with sheathed.

Within two month of training, Kagura was already more than capable enough to cut through the base of trees as thick as 6 feet in diameter. He couldn't stop a smile from forming at the memory of her jumping up and down out of happiness. To celebrate her accomplishment, Ryu was taking her to the next town where he had heard of a really good restaurant would be located.

Kagura had an extra skip in her step as she moved ahead of her teacher. She hopped a few more steps until she realized that she couldn't hear Ryu's steps and turned around to see that he had stopped and was staring into the forest. "Master?"

"Why don't you move on ahead Kagura," she went to question him, but was stopped as he smiled and said, "Don't worry. I just need to take a quick look at something." He waved his hand in a shooing motion. "Get going now, I'll be right behind you." Kagura hesitated for a moment before following his command.

Ryu waited for her be out of sight before dropping his smile into a frown. "You can come out now," he said to seemingly nobody, but it became clear that he wasn't alone as someone stepped out from the treeline.

It was a woman with long black hair and purple eyes. She had a very curvaceous body, with very large breasts, slim waist and wide hips. Upon her head was a white band which separated her hair, framing her bangs from her hair below the band. Worn upon her forehead was a small circular symbol with a small dot on the inside and surrounded by several dots around the top. Tied around her neck was a small white-colored strap. Meanwhile, her attire consisted of a very revealing beige-colored leopard-printed kimono, bearing the decorative marks on her shoulders. The kimono was wrapped around her torso with a thick, decorative yellow ribbon that tied behind her back, and her outfit was complemented by thigh-high socks that revealed her heels and toes. Her most eye catching feature that Ryu noticed though, was the two large gold-looking horns protruding from the sides of her head and pointing upwards.

Despite the fact that Ryu could tell that this woman clearly wasn't human from her appearance, he couldn't help but find her to be stunningly beautiful. So far this world was two for two when it came to sexy women.

"How long have you know that I was there?" The mystery woman asked.

"Since the last town a few miles back," Ryu responded with a wave of his hand while the other remained in his pocket, seemingly unbothered by the fact that he and his student were being followed. "May I know the name of my stalker and the reason why you decided to observe me and my student."

The woman didn't seem bothered by his small insult, "My name is Seilah, one of the nine demon gates of Tartaros." Seilah said with closed eyes and a small bow, "I was sent by my guildmaster to make contact with you and extend an invitation into our guild."

Ryu stared at her for a moment before turning away. "Well Seilah, I'm Ryu Sato. I'm sorry to inform you, but I already have plans to join a different guild, so please return to you master and inform him or her that I decline."As he began to walk away, Ryu felt his body freeze up. It lasted for little more than a fraction of a second, but it was just enough for him to be concerned.

Shaking it off Ryu resumed his pace so that he could catch up with Kagura, but then the feeling came back with a vengeance.

Seilah approached her now frozen target. "An opportunity to join Tartarus is not an offer given likely especially to those that aren't demons.. You will accompany me back to-," Whatever she was going to say next was halted by the hand that was suddenly outstretched right in her face.

Ryu stared at her coldly before he lowered his hand so that it hovered just above her heart and started charging a Cero. "Either you stop whatever it was you were trying to do to me, or your master will be sending someone else to search for your corpse. Are we clear?"

When she only stared wide-eyed at him, Ryu took her lack of response as a yes and turned away once more. "You will cease all observation of me and my student, or I'll show you just how powerful I truly am." With his two cents spoken he disappeared from the demonesses sight.

Any energy that Seilah had, left along with him as she immediately crumbled to her knees. "H-He broke free of my curse... I couldn't even see him move," she said in disbelief.

"Not even master Mard Geer can perform that with such ease." Feeling something strange, she glanced down to see that it was her hands shaking. "What is this feeling? I-Is this what others call fear?" Placing one shaky hand in the other, she slowly rose to her feet and looked in the direction that her quarry had gone in and smiled ever so slightly. "Your story will be a very interesting one, Ryu Sato."


	3. Chapter 3

**Zrocker119:** **Getting some pretty good feedback so far. I mean the only gripe I've gotten so is for the cover art. BTW it's only a place holder for the time being, I'm working on an updated one right now.**

 **Anyway this chapter is a bit on the short side but trust me when I say that the next ones will make up for it.**

 **-Start-**

"So what was it that you needed to take a look at?"

Ryu glanced up at Kagura before turning his attention back to the new issue of Sorcerer's Weekly. It had only been a few minutes since his encounter with the beautiful demoness, and now the master/student duo were seated in an above average restaurant. They had just ordered their food and were waiting for it to arrive. "Just felt something funny at the edge of my senses. Nothing you need to worry your cute little head off about."

He felt a small kick to his shin followed by Kagura muttering, "I'm not cute," under her breath with an adorable pout on her face.

"Why yes, yes you are," Ryu responded with a chuckle before he flipped to the next page. Looking at what was on it he blinked once, twice, three times. Staring back at him, was the familiar face of Mirajane Strauss, only this time it was a picture of her on her knees, one hand behind her head and the other brushing back a stray hair. She wore a dark, purple bikini with skulls dotted around it. To top it all off her eyes were half lidded, giving off a perfectly sexy look.

Ryu felt his face heat up as it became as red as his hair.

Kagura noticed his flushed face, "Why is your face so red?" She asked innocently.

"I-it's nothing," Ryu quickly flipped a couple pages forward, only to be greeted by yet another photo of the beautiful Take Over mage, only this time he had a nice view of her backside as she looked over her shoulder. Flipping several pages forward he sighed in relief when he saw that it wasn't a photoshoot and just a regular old article. "Yeah, nothing at all." Ignoring the strange look he received from pupil, Ryu resumed reading through the magazine. He made it two more pages before his eyes widened. It was at that moment that their food arrived, but he refused to look away from the page as he reread the main article for that page.

"-u, -yu, -Ryu!" He finally snapped out of his trance by Kagure calling his name.

"Yeah?" He blinked as he finally noticed the waitress that held his food, "Oh, my apologies." After thanking the lady for the food the two proceeded to enjoy their meal. As he ate, Ryu thought about what he had read just a few minutes prior and couldn't stop himself from smiling a little.

"Kagura," said girl, fork still in her mouth, looked up from her plate at him. "When we finish here, we're heading toward a branch of the Magic Council in Fiore."

Swallowing her food Kagura said, "But why would we need to head there." All she received in response was a cryptic smile.

* * *

A several hour long train ride later, the duo were walking down a narrow gorge that lead to their destination. Seeing the building in sight, Ryu thought the building itself was pretty outlandish in appearance.

'Why the hell is the upper part floating?' Ryu thought.

As if she were reading his mind, Kagura asked, "Why is part of the building floating?"

"I have no idea. It's a stupid design though. All an enemy would have to do is destroy the power source and the whole place would collapse and kill everyone inside." 'Except for the person I'm here to see that is.' Ryu mentally added.

When the duo were around fifty yards away, he sent out a decent burst of spiritual pressure, large enough to grab his targets attention.

Kagura noticeably struggled to remain standing as the pressure passed over her. It was a much larger amount than she had ever felt him release. She wondered just what he was trying to do by releasing so much power.

Her stray thought was answered by multiple squads of Rune Knights bursting out from the building in a hurry. Within seconds the two were surrounded on all sides.

Kagura found her hands slipping to the handle of her sword on instinct, but her teacher stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder, giving her the unspoken order to calm down.

Feeling her nerves unwind Ryu turned his attention back to the group of heavily armed soldiers before them. He could see them part to the side as someone made their way towards them.

It was a slim man of average height with long, tied up black hair; two bangs framed his face and an unruly tuft covered his forehead, his lavender eyes were visible behind his circular lensed glasses.

His attire was that of a high-ranking Council associate's, consisting of a long, blue jacket with pink edges and strapped cuffs over a high-collared shirt bearing the Council's signature ankh-like symbol. His attire also featured white pants held up by a simple belt, white gloves, a white cape held together by a gem-decorated buckle, and distinctive shoes, seemingly bearing a serpentine pattern.

"Pretty good response time." His comment was answered with a sharp glare from the stranger.

"I'm Lahar, head captain of the custody enforcement unit. Explain why you released a large amount of magical energy within such a close proximity to the council building, or you will be arrested," Lahar demanded.

"Just getting the attention of an old friend," Of all the answers that Lahar thought he would receive, that wasn't one of them.

"You put the building on high alert...just to contact a friend?" Lahar asked in disbelief.

"That is correct."

.

.

.

Lahar didn't believe him for one moment, "Men, take the suspect and his accomplice in for que-"

"That won't be necessary," Interrupted a new voice that came from behind Ryu and Kagura, that latter of the two jumping in surprise. The two turned around and got a good look at who spoke.

He was unusually thin and tall with sharp features, which gave him a skeletal appearance, and had unusual silver hair. He wore a simple black suit with a white shirt underneath, short brown gloves, and brown steel-toed shoes, a pair of black trousers held up by two brown belts. He completed the outfit with a black fedora hat to close the shady visage.

His eyes were slitted and wore a thin, almost mocking smile. The man turn his attention to Lahar and the rune knights, many of which took a nervous step back, "You and your men can go back inside Lahar, I've got this covered."

Lahar moved to voice his disagreement, but stopped as the new arrival continued to look at him with his unnerving smile. The head commander of the custody enforcement unit reluctantly nodded, "Yes, executive commander." He turned on the balls of his feet and retreated back into the building, followed closely by his men, taking care to give Ryu, Kagura and the man a wide berth.

Ryu and the man stared one another down. Kagura looked back and forth between the two. For several tense moments she thought her master and the man would come to blows, but her fears were soon dashed as Ryu let out a quiet chuckle.

He reached into his coat at pulled out the magazine that he had read earlier that day. He threw it at the man's feet and it flipped open, "When I read the article about the rising star in the rune knights, I wasn't sure what to think."

The man shrugged, the smile never leaving his face, "What can I say...I like to make an impact."

Kagura was surprised to see her master clasp his arm with the stranger. "I'm not gonna ask how you're here, cause like me you probably have no idea, but damn it's good to see you alive and kicking Gin!"

The stranger, now revealed to be named Gin, returned the gesture with a nod and his smile switched from one of mock politeness to a genuine one. "Likewise Ryu, likewise." Gin tilted his head to the side, getting a better look at the young girl that stood a few feet away. "Who's the kid?"

Moving so that he was standing next to her, Ryu placed a hand of her shoulder, "Gin, this is my cute student Kagura." A tick mark appeared on Kagura's forehead, but she managed to refrain from kicking his shin, if only to spare her poor toes from the pain that such an action would surely bring.

Gin raised a brow, "Student eh? Didn't peg you for the teaching type."

"I didn't peg you for the type to join the military," Ryu cocked his head slightly, "and what's with the change in wardrobe, I mean you look pretty badass, but why?"

Gin offered a shrug, "Thought that I would try something new. Given the situation that we found ourselves in, I figured that it would fit." Ryu nodded at that. New world, new look, it did indeed fit.

"How about we take the rest of this conversation someplace else?" Gin asked as he turned and began to walk back in the direction of the town, "I haven't eaten since this morning and I hear that there are some good restaurants in town."

Ryu and Kagura shared a knowing look between them. Hands in pockets and with a shake of his head Ryu smirked, "So long as you're the one that's buying."

* * *

The sound of running feet could be heard as a small figure ran through the thick undergrowth of the forest. Breaking through the brush and into a clearing the figure was revealed to be a young girl, no more than ten or eleven. The girl came to a stop. Breathing heavily she bent over, hands resting on her knees.

She was a petite girl with long, dark blue hair that reached down to her waist, with two bangs framing her face that reached down to her chest. She wore a simple dress with two wavy stripes that ran across the dress and ended in small pointed edges at the bottom. Around her arms and legs were wing like attachments. Her feet were covered by a pair of well worn sandals. On her right shoulder was a blue marking, depicted as a cat with multiple tail tips.

The sound of breaking branches reached her ears, causing her head to shoot up in alarm. She hadn't quite gotten her breath back but her large, brown eyes showed no signs of being tired. She closed her eyes to help focus on her hearing. For several seconds all was quiet, and for a moment she believed that she had managed to shake her pursuer.

That train of thought crashed and burned as a large, ape-like beast came crashing through the treeline, its fist raised for an overhead smash.

Her eyes snapped open and the girl leapt to the side, successfully avoiding the attack. Twisting in the air, she pulled her leg back as it was enveloped in a miniature tornado.

"Tenryū no Kagizume!" The twister connected with the ape and sent it crashing into the ground.

The girl fell on her behind, even more exhausted than before. That last attack had used up the rest of her magic reserves. Staring at the downed creature, she waited to see if it would rise back up.

.

.

.

When it didn't the young girl let out a sigh of relief.

The girl's ears twitched slightly as a sound similar to static emanated from behind her. A moment of silence passed before she felt a hand upon her head.

"Good job, Wendy," a distinctly male voice spoke as the hand ruffled her hair.

Wendy smiled before a yawn escaped her lips. Rubbing her eyes, she did nothing to stop the man from picking her up as she began to nod off. She wrapped her arms around his neck and soon fell asleep in his arms.

The man spared a glance at the sleeping child in his arms before turning to the downed beast that he had sent her to defeat. A few weeks ago she would've been a helpless, crying mess at the thought of fighting any sort of man or beast. But now, now she smiled at the achievement of defeating a Vulcan, even though she knew that it was a relatively weak creature.

'She has gotten stronger,' the slightest of smiles played at the man's lips as the duo disappeared in a final burst of static.

 **-END-**


	4. Chapter 4

Zrocker119: **Well we're four chapters in and still no flames. Now that's what I call a succes!**

 **-Start-**

It was mid-day and Ryu sat alone in the booth of a train, staring out the window as the landscape passed on by. Sure he could move several times faster than any vehicle ever could, cutting the multi-hour ride by at least half, but he needed the time to think.

'Has it really been a year?' Tearing his eyes from the window he gazed across toward the empty seat that his student would normally be seated in. He pinched the bridge of his nose and released a sigh as he thought back to the young girl that he had come to see as family.

 **A few hours earlier**

Kagura stabbed her blade into the ground to keep herself from collapsing due to exhaustion. She was tired, hungry, sweaty and could barely keep a grip on her sword. Meanwhile her master stood across from her and showcased the exact opposite of her current condition. Hell, even his clothes were in better condition than she was.

"That all?" She heard him ask as he bounced the flat side of his blade on his shoulder, "This will be our last spar for the foreseeable future and this is how you want to end it!?" The last part sounded condescending.

Kagura grit her teeth. She knew that he was just trying to rile her up and get her back on her feet, but damn it that tone he had really got under her skin. Within the last year she had made so much progress when it came to her swordsmanship, having all but mastered her undrawn sword style, and had even discovered that she could use gravity magic.

Yet, despite all of that, despite all of her hard work, she still couldn't land a single hit on the man before her. Yes she knew that Ryu was probably the most powerful man in the country and had seven years on her, plus experience in war, but it was a major blow to her pride that she couldn't get him to take her seriously.

With newfound vigor, Kagura sheathed her sword and charged toward a grinning Ryu, raising the gravity for him and lessening it for her while doing so. Once she was within range, she quickly unsheathed her blade in an attempt to catch him off guard with a quickdraw aimed at his neck.

In response to the attack Ryu raised his hand and caught the blade before it could even get close to its intended target and struck out with his left leg. Kagura leapt off the ground and, in an impressive display of acrobatics, twisted in a way that allowed her to avoid the attack and land a kick on Ryu's hand, freeing her blade.

She jumped back and prepared for her next attack, while Ryu had yet to move from his spot.

"Now that's more like it," Ryu said as he slowly brought his blade to bare. "Let's kick things up a notch!"

 **Present**

Ryu smirked at the memory of Kagura, his pride and joy, regaining the spirit to keep on fighting. They sparred for another hour before her inhuman stamina finally failed and her magic energy ran dry. Two hours after that, the duo had departed to go their separate ways as he had taught her everything he could, the rest she would have to learn on her own.

The young swordswoman had tears in her eyes as they said goodbye, but he had reassured her that they would see eachother again. So, after drying her face of tears, the two had gotten on their respective trains and parted ways.

Kagura was headed for an all female guild by the name of Mermaid Heel and Ryu was not against her decision. For a 14-year-old her womanly figure had already started to fill out and he didn't quite feel like murdering some hormonally charged men.

Ryu was brought out of his thoughts as he felt the train slow down. Glancing out the window he saw that they had begun to pull into Magnolia station. "Time sure flies when one's lost in thought."

Stepping off the train and onto the platform he made his way through the crowded streets. As he walked along he took notice that people were turning to stare at him. Like Gin, Ryu had decided to give the wardrobe change a shot.

He now wore a midnight blue, collar dress shirt with a white, gothic style cross on the left side of his chest and had the top two buttons left undone. Over that was a pitch black, sleeveless vest that was left unbuttoned. The shirt was tucked into a pair of black pants that are in turn, tucked into a pair of black combat boots that reached midway up his shins. The pants were held up by a brown belt with a silver buckle in the shape of a teardrop.

On top of it all, Ryu still wore the coat that he was given upon becoming an Espada, leaving the sleeves rolled up and everything. Olvido's handle could be seen poking out from beneath his coat, where it was tucked in between the belt.

His only other noticeable change was that his hair was now much longer. Even with a black band holding it in a high-ponytail, his hair still reached the base of his neck. The hair on the sides of his head was a little shorter than before, now only reaching his chin instead of his shoulders and partially covered the sides of his face, but not enough to completely hide his mask.

Ignoring the looks that were being sent his way, Ryu continued down the busy street, taking care not to bump into anyone. Something that is apparently easier said than done, because as he rounded a corner somebody crashed into him.

Ryu remained standing but the same couldn't be said for the one that collided with him. "Sorry, I wasn't look-", He paused when he didn't see a person lying on the ground, but instead he saw a large pile of books. Not really sure what to make of this he leaned in close and tapped on the book that sat at the top of the pile. "Ummm, hello?"

The pile began to shift and a head poked out from it. Not expecting it, Ryu was unable to pull his head back before the person accidentally headbutted him square in the nose, making his head snap back.

"Oh my god," Cried a feminine voice, "I'm so sorry!"

"I'm fine," Ryu responded, rubbing his nose absentmindedly. His hierro absorbed all of the damage so the surprise attack hadn't hurt at all. Looking down he saw the head of a girl sticking out from beneath all of the books.

She appeared to be a few years younger than himself with shoulder-length blue hair, eyebrow-length bangs, and was tied up with a colorful bandana around her head.

"Here, let me help you up." Holding out his hand, he waited until she grasped it before pulling her to her feet.

"Thank you," she said, patting off the loose dirt that now clung to her short, orange dress. Now that the books weren't blocking his view, Ryu could see that she was rather petite, barely coming to his chest, and was rather lacking in the curves department, but he would be lying to himself if he said that the girl wasn't cute.

"You alright?" He asked as she continued to dust herself off.

"Hm? Oh I'm fine," She waved off his concern, "It was my fault for getting so many books, I couldn't even see where I was going. Kind of surprised that I didn't run into anyone sooner." She bent down and started picking up the fallen books.

Feeling partially responsible for her current predicament, Ryu started gathering up the books as well. "Mind if I ask where you were going with all of these?"

"To my guild," was her response, "The library was starting to become outdated so I decided to buy a few up-to-date books." They finished gathering up the books and Ryu could now see why she crashed into him. The stack was easily twice her height. there must have been somewhere between 30 and 50 books.

"Yeah, a few." Ryu thought on her words for a moment, "Wait, did you say guild? You wouldn't happen to be a member of Fairy Tail would you?"

"Yep," she said as she turned around and showed him the guild mark on her left shoulder blade, "Have been for the last five years. Why do you ask?"

"Was just heading there myself. Got a meeting with the old man." Taking more than half of the books, Ryu resumed walking towards the guild. "Come on, I'll help you carry these. Oh by the way, the name's Ryu."

"Levy," she said with a pleasant smile, "Nice to meet you Ryu. What do you have to meet with the master for?"

Seeing that it was a fair question, Ryu decided to give her an answer, "He offered me a chance to join about a year ago, but due to some personal issues I had to decline. Those issues, for the most part, have been resolved so I decided that now was a good time to join."

Satisfied with his response, Levy nodded and the duo continued onward. It only took a few more minutes to reach the guild hall. Using his foot, Ryu nudged the door open and let Levy inside first before following after.

The hall was much calmer this time around with no tables, chairs or bodies being tossed around. Instead all was nice and quiet. There were quite a few people inside, with most just sitting around and making idle conversation.

Ryu drew more than a few stares but it didn't bother him whatsoever. He was a new face around here, so stares were to be expected, plus his mask always drew attention regardless of where he went.

He continued to follow Levy to the back of the guild where she opened another door that lead to the guild's library. "Just set them down on the table over there, I'll sort through them in a bit." Ryu did as instructed and set them on a nearby table, making sure that none would fall. "Thank you for carrying them."

"No problem Levy," Ryu said with a small wave as he left the library and headed towards the bar. He had a feeling that he and the little bluette would become good friends. Seated on one of the stools was Makarov, short as ever, calmly sipping away a beer. "Hey, old man."

Whilst mid drink, the aged guild master turned to face who spoke to him. After turning around completely, it took a moment for Makarov to recognize the redhead. "Ah Ryu!" He greeted with one hand raised, "It's been some time. How are you doing?"

"Pretty good but a little thirsty, if you catch my drift," Ryu said while taking a seat next to the old man. Makarov chuckled and waved the bartender over as he gestured to Ryu. A second later and a beer was in his hands. "Thanks, next round's on me."

"Sounds like a plan," Makarov raised his cup. Ryu chuckled before he clinked their glasses together.

Makarov took a moment to savor his drink before getting down to business, "So, what brought you back here?"

"You offered me a place here last time we spoke," Ryu paused for a drink, "Was hoping it was still open." He could feel Makarov's quizzical gaze upon him.

"But why?" Makarov asked, "I'm not saying no, but you seemed quite adamant about not joining before. What changed?"

With a sigh Ryu finished the rest of his drink, "I was lost and confused. Ripped from home by some unseen force, I needed answers, answers that couldn't be found if I stayed stationary."

"Did you find them?"

"No," Makarov rose a brow at his swift reply, "In fact I didn't find a single one," Ryu sighed, "I'm just tired of searching and not finding anything. I haven't given up on finding them, but I'm ready to just sit down and find a new place to call home."

"Hmmm," Makarov rubbed his chin in thought before breaking into a big grin, "Well Ryu, if a new home is what you seek, then you definitely came to the right place!" He gestured to everyone in the guild hall. "This guild, it's more than just a place for wizards to come for work. To every single person here, this place is home, and the people within it, family."

Ryu bit back a smirk. God the way the old man said that made it sound so corny. "Does that mean-"

"Yes," Makarov nodded, "Yes you can join." He reached into his jacket, rummaged around for a second, before he finally pulled out a stamp with the guild's mark on it. "So, where and what color?"

Ryu tried and failed to hide his surprise, "Really? That's all there is to it?"

"Well, I'll have to fill out some paperwork and send it to the magic council," Makarov waved his hand in indifference, "But that can wait until later."

"Hmmm, in that case," Ryu brushed his hair to the side, exposing the Espada tattoo on the back of his neck, and pointed towards it, "Black with a white outline, but I still want the zero to remain visible if possible." He felt the stamp press against his skin, but other than that he couldn't really feel anything happen. A few seconds later and the feeling was gone.

"There," Makarov exclaimed, "You are now officially a member of the guild." He leapt up onto the counter and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Alright, all you brats listen up!" The master succeeded in getting everyone's attention as the whole place went completely silent. "This young man here," he gestured towards Ryu, "just joined the guild, so I expect you all treat him to a Fairy Tail welcome!"

For his part, Ryu just gave them all a lazy wave of his hand. "Yo."

* * *

Mirajane let out an irritated sigh as she and her siblings got off of the train and made their way towards the guild. The last mission having not gone nearly as well as she had hoped. The three had been tasked with clearing out a bandit group that had been harassing travelling merchants.

Capturing the bandits had been rather easy for the group, but many of the stolen goods were destroyed during all of the fighting, which then resulted in a rather large portion of their pay being taken out to cover for the lost items.

"The mission wasn't that bad Mira-nee," Lisanna said as she put a hand on her sister's shoulder.

Mirajane glanced back to see both of her younger siblings giving her looks of encouragement. God, the two of them had changed so much over the course of a year.

Lisanna had grown a little taller, her hair was now much shorter and had a more curvaceous figure, but not to the same extent as her sister's. She wore a light-blue tank top with cross straps, a green skirt, black socks and sneakers.

Elfman had changed the most out of the three of them. He had grown much taller, towering over most of their guild members, and had gained a significant amount of muscle mass, making him the most physically imposing member of the guild. He now had a scar on his right eye, which only served to add to his intimidating figure. His hair no longer resembled that of a messy bowl cut, but was now styled upward and spiky.

His clothes consisted of a skintight brown T-shirt, black pants held up by a brown belt, brown shoes and dark-purple, short-sleeved jacket.

"Lisanna's right," Elfman grunted, "Not our fault that the bandits didn't give up without a fight."

Mira shook her head but couldn't help but smile, "You're both right, I shouldn't get upset over something as stupid as a pay cut." She turned to Elfman with a smirk, "Besides, not like it was the first time to happen. Right Elfman?"

The larger of the siblings crossed his arms and turned away with a grunt, "I'm not apologizing. That guy wouldn't stop staring at you two like you were nothing but pieces of meat. You just don't do that, especially to a man's sisters."

Lisanna giggled as she lead the way back to the guild. Along the way they were met with the smiles and waves of the townspeople that the group gladly returned. As they approached the guild doors they became aware of the sound of cheering coming from inside.

Wanting to know what was going on, the sibling hurry on inside. Upon entering they noticed that almost every member of the guild surrounded a single table, cheering as they did.

Not wanting to be left in the dark, Mirajane grabbed the arm of a passing member, "Hey Max, what's going on?"

The sand mage seemed to forget that he was more than somewhat afraid of the eldest Strauss because he barely spared a glance in her direction, "Cana challenged the newbie to a drinking contest and he accepted. They've been going drink for drink for the last hour and a half!"

All three siblings eyes widened at the information. Not only had they gotten a new member, but said newbie was keeping up with their local alcoholic, something that no one to date could do.

"Two more barrels!" Cana's voice could be heard over the roar of the crowd.

"As much as I would like to keep this up, I'm about at my limit." Said a voice that the siblings recognized.

Mirajane, using her superior strength, shoved her way through the crowd until she reached the center. Her mouth opened slightly at the sight before her.

Ryu sat crossed legged on the table with dozens of empty barrels of booze stacked behind him. His head hung forward slightly and had a heavy blush on his cheeks, whether it was due to the alcohol or the scantily clad Cana that sat across from him was up for debate.

"What's the matter," Cana managed to slur out, "Can't handle one more?"

"I(hick) know when to admit defeat," responded the equally drunk Arrancar. He went to say more but stopped to cover his mouth as his cheeks puffed up. Everyone backed away, thinking he was gonna start blowing chunks, but a gulp is heard and he exhaled, "Anyone got any mouthwash?"

He was answered by the guild roaring with laughter.

Ryu sweatdropped at their response, he was being completely serious when he asked that. Booze didn't taste nearly as good when it came back up as it did when it went down. Any thought he had on personal hygiene ended though when his mismatched eyes met a pair of blue ones.

Mirajane hadn't changed all that much since Ryu last saw her about a year ago. She still had her long, white hair done up in a thick, high-ponytail by a massive dark ribbon. A large strand covered her forehead, while two long bangs on the sides went down past her chin and to her mid chest.

Her clothing had changed considerably since their last meeting. Instead of the gothic, tomboyish outfit, she now wore a dark, corset like tube top that was trimmed with lace around the upper edge that left a generous amount of her vast cleavage exposed. Just under her considerable bust was a black, leather band with four silver buttons.

Her midriff was left completely uncovered, allowing him to drink in the sight of her toned tummy. She wore a dark short skirt that was laced on the bottom edge, that also had a black overlay which was split into three sections and secured to her by a silver, studded belt.

Her mile long legs were covered by dark leggings that stopped about halfway up her thighs, and black knee-high, high-heel boots. To complete the look, she wore a black, crop top jacked, that had dark bands wrapped around her bicep and dark cuffs.

Now under normal circumstances, Ryu would never allow himself to give into his baser instinct and oggle the literal definition of eye candy before him. But these weren't normal circumstances as he currently had an obnoxious amount of alcohol flowing through his system so he, unpurposefully, allowed his eyes to wander Mirajane's rocking figure for a moment.

The alcohol was also the reason why he didn't react to the fist that was currently hurtling towards his face until it was far too late.

All those present winced as Ryu's figure disappeared through the newest hole in the guilds wall. Following the extended arm, they all saw that Mirajane was the one that had just, more than likely, knocked out their newest member.

However to everyone's, but the take over trio's, surprise a groan was heard as Ryu picked himself up from the rubble. "Well that's one way to say hello. Most people would say, "Hi Ryu, it's been awhile. How you been? But a punch to the face works too," he said as he rubbed his cheek.

Mira just crossed her arms, "I was going to say hi, but then you started peeling my clothes off with your eyes."

"...I'm not gonna even bother trying to deny it." Was his casual response. He had gotten back up and in the building by this point and now stood before the three siblings. "Nice punch by the way, pretty sure it sobered me up a little," He looked all three of them over, not allowing his eyes to wander this time, and smiled. "You guys look good, how you been?"

"Things have been good, Ryu." Lisanna smiled, "Between jobs and training, things couldn't be any better. What about you?"

He shrugged, "Can't complain."

"Wait a minute," a dark haired boy that looked to be about Lisanna's age suddenly spoke up. Ryu was confused as to why he was clad in only a pair of boxers though. "You guys have met before?"

Mira placed one hand on her hip while the other brushed back a stray hair, "Yes Gray, we've met. Also your clothes." The now named Gray quickly dove to the ground and began searching for his lost garments.

Ignoring the serial stripper Mira continued, "Remember when I broke my arm last year?" The entirety of the guild nodded, "Ryu here is the reason we made it home."

Ryu wasn't bothered in the slightest at all of the eyes that were currently on him, having grown used to such attention from much more powerful figures. "Like I said last time, it was no trouble."

"Yet we're still grateful regardless," Elfman spoke up, a smirk forming along his lips, "And if I recall correctly, Mira made a deal with you before you took off." Mirajane smirked as well, even Lisanna, the normally happy going girl, sported a startling grin.

Ryu took on a thinking pose as he tried to recall what they were going on about. After a moment, it clicked. "Really? You guys want to do that now?" Silence was all that greeted him. Understanding the unspoken answer, the arrancar sighed in resignation. "Alright then, know of a place we could use? The further away from town the better."

The siblings looked at each other, seemingly having a telepathic conversation, before nodding.

Mirajane was the one that spoke, "There's a clearing about a mile from the outskirts of town that we were using for training."

Ryu nodded, stepped to the side and gestured towards the door, "Lead the way." Following the siblings, the group of four exited the building, leaving behind a guild full of very confused members.

Gray was the one who eventually broke the silence.

"What just happened?"

 **-End-**


	5. Chapter 5

**Zrocker119:** **Another week, another chapter. Hope all of you are ready for a fight, cause that's what 80% of this chapter is.**

 **-Start-**

Ryu took a long look at the clearing that the white-haired siblings had led him to. It was very spacious, with over 100 meters of flat ground in all directions. There were a few craters scattered about, most likely from the time that they had spent training here.

All in all, Ryu approved, "Nice spot, perfect for practicing and far enough from civilization to not disturb anyone." Upon facing the trio, his brows furrowed a little as he saw what lied behind them, "Any reason why you lot followed us?" He asked as the rest of the guild watched from a safe distance and...were they setting up lawn chairs?

"Alright," Cana shouted as she held up a bowl, "Bets are open! Who's gonna win?!"

Everyone immediately placed their money on the siblings, much to the annoyance of their latest member, "Geez, they all throw me a party, get me drunk and now bet money on me getting my ass kick in a friendly spar." He chuckled, "I sure know how to pick'em."

"We ready to get started?" Mirajane asked as she cracked her knuckles in anticipation.

"Hold on a sec." Drawing his sword, Ryu began to walk around them, dragging his blade in the ground as he did so. A few moments later, he stood in the center of a circle that was about 50 meters in diameter. "Let's make a bet of our own to make things more interesting."

"What do you have in mind?" Elfman asked, curious as to what the redhead had in mind as was everyone else that was present.

"There are three ways this could end, all of which are up to the three of you," He held up two fingers, "The first two being that you can get me to leave circle that I just drew, render me unconscious, or the third being, well…"

Mirajane narrowed her eyes, not liking the tone of his voice, "Well what?"

"...The third being that you all surrender." All form of conversation ended as what Ryu just said registered in everyone's minds. Did he just?

Mira's smirk fell into a tight scowl at his last condition. "Do you really think that beating us will be that easy?"

"Never underestimate your opponent, that was a lesson taught to me when I was eleven. Sadly, it was also the first lesson that I forgot and it cost me dearly," Ryu folded his hands behind his back, closed his eyes and sighed, "I'm not trying to sound arrogant when I say that you three," When he opened his eyes, the kindness from before had been replaced with a hardness that startled the three, "Don't even make the top ten list of the most powerful opponents that I have faced."

Mirajane, Elfman and Lisanna all tensed up as wisps of white energy began flowing from Ryu's body. "To finish what I was saying earlier though. If you win, I'll owe you each a favor. If I win, you owe me one. It's that simple. Do we have a deal?"

His answer came in the form of the siblings charging at him. While the surprise charge may have caught most off guard, Ryu had sensed the subtle buildup of energy right before they had moved.

Ryu raised his right arm, blocking a kick from Mira who grit her teeth in pain as she hadn't expected his skin to be rock hard. Ryu noticed Elfman and Lisanna coming at him from the sides, both of whom had shifted into their Take-Over forms, Lisanna's being into a scantily clad cat-ish form, while Elfman's arms had become much larger and seemingly made of a black metal.

Ryu pushed against Mira's leg with much greater force than she was exerting, causing her to go soaring into the air. With the larger threat momentarily gone, the former espada reached out and caught the younger siblings fists, halting them in their tracks.

Before they could back away, Ryu dug his fingers into their hands, preventing them from escaping. With hardly any effort Ryu quickly spun in a circle and released them from his hold, sending them bouncing along the ground.

The two ate dirt for a few more moments before righting themselves and coming to a halt. "I don't think you need to hold yourself back Elfman-nii," spoke Lisanna.

Elfman spared her a glance and nodded, "I was thinking the exact same thing." They had both felt it when Ryu had them in his grasp. It was very subtle, the to almost completely missed it, but due to their nature as Take-Over mages they were able to catch a glimpse of Ryu's soul and it was unlike anything they ever felt before.

Ryu stared at the duo for a moment with a calculative gaze. 'Lisanna is the faster of the two, but if strength behind her first attack is anything to go by, then she won't be able to get past my _Hierro_. Threat level: Slightly above the average hollow.'

He shifted his gaze to Elfman, 'That punch he threw had a decent pack to it, no doubt from the added mass of his transformed arms. He's was holding back though, so until I see what he's truly capable of, I'm classifying him as a freshly evolved Gillian.'

"I'm going all out." Elfman suddenly spoke as his body became enveloped in a grey glow. When the light faded, Elfman was no longer human but now resembled that of a Minotaur from greek mythology. He stood 12 feet tall, had iron colored skin, his muscles had expanded to massive proportions with each arm being thicker than Ryu's chest and his hair grew longer and more untamed. A pair of massive bull horns protruded from his skull, looking ready to gore anything that strayed too close. The only article of clothing he wore was a pair of torn up shorts. Lastly a gold ring hung from his nose

"Full body Take-Over, Ironbull," Elfman spoke, his voice now much deeper thanks to his new form.

'...correction, mid level Adjuchas. Damn he looks like he could break Yammy in two!' Ryu instincts suddenly screamed at him to move. He leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding a earth shattering punch that left a large crater in its wake.

'And lastly Mira-,' His internal power comparison stopped as he took in the appearance of the eldest Strauss.

Her eyes, eyelashes, ears, and hair had all change drastically, and dark, thin markings were now sported all over her body. Her forearms and hands became covered in scales, and each sprouted a fin-like protrusion on the outer side. She had also grown a large, stocky tail, seemingly made of metal plates or scales. Her clothing had also changed, with the attire she wore previously being replaced by a dark, skimpy one-piece suit revealing her arms and legs, which is open on the front and the back, exposing most of her belly, wide cleavage and upper back too. She also donned a pair of gauntlets covering the back parts of her transformed arms.

"Damn, I missed," Mirajane muttered darkly as she straightened herself up she jumped back, landing between her siblings. "Get ready Ryu, cause the kid gloves are off."

'High end Adjuchas, definitely high end, even more so with that lethal body,' Shaking his head to clear out any lewd thought that had surfaced from Mirajane's new appearance, Ryu put one hand in his pocket and made the "come hither" motion with the other.

"Show me what you can do."

Those seemed to be the magic words as the three charged him with renewed vigor. A pair of bat like wings sprouted from Mirajane's back, giving her the ability to fly, which in turn allowed her to close the distance between them the fastest.

Mirajane lashed out with a right hook that was promptly blocked by Ryu's own, who then retaliated with a kick to her side. She spun around the limb and tried catching the side of his face with her tail, but he managed to dodge that as well.

The sun was suddenly blocked out as the towering form of Elfman loomed over them, one of his fists cocked back for a powerful blow. Wanting to test the new found strength of Elfman's form, Ryu threw a punch of his own. He was not disappointed.

The resulting clash created a shockwave that caused the ground beneath them to shatter, but both combatants held their ground. The grin on Ryu's face faltered slightly when Lisanna appeared beneath him with a burst of speed and swept his legs out from under him. He offered her a frown, which she returned with a sly smirk, before disappearing from view.

With Ryu's support now gone and Lisanna at a safe distance, Elfman was free to follow through with his punch. A huge cloud of dust and smoke was kicked up as his enormous fist sunk into the earth.

"Damn that was close," Elfman blinked and looked up to see Ryu literally standing in the air, completely free of injury. "Not gonna lie, was not expecting that level of teamwork-," Before he could finish his sentence, Ryu felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking back he saw Mira floating beside him.

"Evil spark," She said with a smirk as she channeled electricity through his body. After a few moments she let go, cutting off the flow of magic energy. Ryu's body was now slightly blackened and his hair was all frizzy. Rather than fall to the ground like she expected, Ryu simply coughed up a small cloud of smoke before he grabbed the offending limb that shocked him and tossed her over his shoulder at high speeds.

As she flipped through the air, Mira flared out her wings in an attempt to right herself, but with a burst of static Ryu was suddenly above her with his leg raised for a heel drop. He was about to send her crashing back down to earth when an avian foot connected with his face.

It didn't seem to hurt him in any way, but it bought Mirajane enough time to fly out of the way and to safety. Ryu grunted in annoyance as he turned towards Lisanna, whose arms and legs had been replaced with bird limbs. As she chuckled nervously he noticed that she was clenching and unclenching one of her feet, most likely the one that had hit him.

Before she could react, Ryu was in front of her and chopped her on the head. Her eyes rolled back and her Take-Over faded. Ryu caught her before she could fall and appeared at the edge of the circle with a burst of sonido.

"She's out," was all she said as he set her down and motioned for one of the watching members to come get her before reappearing in the center of the clearing.

Mirajane narrowed her gaze as she tried to come up with a way to defeat the redhead. With Lisanna down for the count, a wide range of their strategies were out as well as many of them had relied on the youngest sisters ability to rush in and out without receiving too much damage.

The siblings tensed as Ryu crouched low, his left hand pressed to the ground while his right was outstretched, "Get ready." That was their only warning before he rushed them, his body seemingly gliding across the ground. Just as he was about to come within striking distance he disappeared from view.

The duo looked around, trying yet failing to spot the veteran warrior. Mirajane ducked as Ryu reappeared with his leg extended for a kick aimed at her stomach. "Good reflexes," was his comment as he grabbed her tail and begun to spin. After a moment to build momentum he let go.

Mirajane crashed into Elfman who managed to catch her at the last second, yet was still sent skidding back. Using the force of from Ryu's throw, Elfman spun around with Mirajane still in his grasp, who had moved to a crouching position in his hand, and threw her back at their foe with even greater force.

Mira approached Ryu at high speeds that were too fast for the audience to track, thus only catching up to what was going on when the duo's fists collided with a deafening boom. The resulting shockwave made a crater several meters deep and several times wider beneath them.

The she demon twisted around and slammed her leg into his side, feeling her bones shake as she did so. Ryu didn't so much as grunt when he tanked a hit that would put most other mages out of commission.

He reached forward and grabbed Mirajane by her face. She experienced vertigo as he kicked out her leg and threw her to the ground.

A monstrous bellow of rage caught Ryu's attention. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Elfman charging towards him with his head lowered. At the last moment, He spun and grabbed the manbeast by his horns and used the momentum to flip him over his shoulders and slam him into the ground.

With his attention focused elsewhere Mirajane got to her feet and flew into the air, grabbing ahold of Ryu's coat as she did so. Yanking him into the air, she let go momentarily to turn around and pull him into a hug, wrapping her tail around their waists to make sure that he couldn't escape. She then used her wings to send them on a collision course towards the ground.

Ryu looked ahead and blinked in surprise to see Elfman back on his feet and fist cocked back.

"Huh."

Mira released him from her hold and flew away just before Elfman's fist crashed into the side of his head, visible concussive ripples emanated from the point of impact. The force behind the attack sent Ryu careening towards the crater's wall.

Those watching from the sidelines cringed as the guild's newest member crashed into the earth.

Elfman, exhausted from the amount of magic he put into that punch, panted heavily as he lowered his fist. Mirajane landed right beside him and the two watched the dust cloud that hid Ryu's form.

"I'm sure that even," Elfman panted as his Take-Over faded, leaving him as a normal human, "Even he couldn't get up from that."

Mirajane knew the destructive power that Elfman was capable of in his Ironbull state. She had seen him knock out wyvern with a similar punch, yet even she wasn't so sure. "Let's not get our hopes up."

"Good call."

Before either of them could react Ryu was right in front of them with his fist cocked back. Elfman didn't even realize what was happening when Ryu's fist connected with his cheek and was sent crashing through the side of the crater, tunneled through the earth and erupted from the ground to land unconscious before the other guild members.

"Not that it does you any good."

The sight of her last sibling being dispatched so easily made something inside Mirajane snap and the arrancar found himself on the receiving end of a flurry of punches and kicks. Her attacks were unrefined and easy to read so he was able dodge and dance around them all with little to no effort.

Mira became more and more frustrated as the one sided fight progressed, growing more desperate to land a single blow. Even though she didn't want to admit it, she was beginning to grow tired. She couldn't keep this pace up for much longer and she knew it.

Ryu decided that he was done playing on the defensive and caught Mira's clawed gauntlet, stopping it a few inches shy of his jaw. Without breaking eye contact, he charged a bala into his other hand, pressed it against her shoulder and released it in the form of a wide shockwave. Due to him discharging it in a large, unfocused wave he succeeded in not blowing her shoulder clean off or punching a hole through it. He even dubbed down the amount of power he would normally put into them.

It still hurt like a bitch though.

Mirajane let out a cry of pain as she fell to the ground, grasping her shoulder as it felt like it was on the receiving end of a speeding train. She glared up at Ryu, whose face continued to remain passive, although she thought she saw a touch of concern pass through his eyes.

"Are you done yet?"

His question was answered by Mirajane flaring out her wings and taking off into the sky.

"Guess not," Ryu said with a small sigh as his opponent flew high and higher before finally stopping several hundred meters above the ground. Rather than chase after her though, his curiosity got the better of him and decided to see what would happen next.

Mirajane cupped her hands at her side and angled herself sideways to him. The energy from the air around her was pulled in between her hands, taking on the shape of a large black globe.

Ryu's eyes rose slightly at the sight of the ball of energy, as it resembled that of a cero oscuras almost perfectly. The only differences being that there was a vortex-like swirl in the center of it.

The guild members that were watching from the sides began to panic at the sight of the upcoming attack.

"This is getting out of hand really fast!" Cried Gray as he began to worry for his wellbeing. "That attack could possibly destroy the whole area. Shouldn't you be stopping this master?"

Unlike the rest of the guild, Makarov was completely calm. "No," he said after a moment of thought. The members that had begun to take cover stopped and stared at the elder in shock and confusion. "Look at him."

Following his gaze Gray and the rest saw what he was talking about. The slight surprise that Ryu had shown earlier was now replaced by a look of complete calm and collectiveness as he watched Mirajane prepare what was most likely her last and strongest attack.

Gray's eyes widened as he realized what Ryu intended to do. He was going to take the attack head on.

"Let's see what happens," spoke Makarov, refusing to turn away from the battle before them.

Up in the sky Mira had finished charging her attack, "Soul Extinctor!", and thrusted her palms forward. The sphere immediately expanded into a massive beam of raw power, more than large enough to encompass Ryu's entire form.

Ryu watched as the beam closed the distance between the two of them within seconds. Just a moment before impact though he raised his hand, revealing the ball of red energy, no bigger than an apple, that he had been charging for the last few seconds.

"Cero," It was hardly a whisper, but the effects were instantaneous. Much like Mirajane's attack, the cero quickly expanded to massive proportions and collided with the opposing stream. Black, purple and white clashed with crimson as the two energies seem to come to a standstill. But that lasted only for a moment.

Mirajane watched in shock as Ryu's cero quickly overcame her soul extinctor, seemingly consuming her strongest magical attack. Her mind was so shocked by the turn of events that it failed to process the fact that his blast was still closing in on her until it was too late.

The sky lit up in a brilliant shade of red as the beam became an explosion that could both be heard and seen for miles, forcing those watching to shield their eyes. When the light died down they looked to see how Mira had fared.

Their jaws dropped at what they saw.

Mira had closed her eyes and raised her arms up at the last possible moment and braced herself for the pain that was sure to come. A second passed...then two...then three and yet the pain never came. Slowly opening her eyes, she was greeted by the sight of Ryu in front of her with a hand outstretched. The palm of said hand was bright red and smoking ever so slightly.

'H-he took on his own attack!?' Her eyes widened at the implication.

"Damn," Ryu swore as he shook his hand as the skin finished healing. "I put way too much power into that." He glanced over at the shellshocked Mirajane. She wasn't shocked for long as he gave her a not so light flick on the head.

"Ow," she cried as she rubbed her now sore forehead. That flick had actually stung.

"That's for freezing up like that," Ryu scolded her like he would a small child. "You're lucky that I was fast enough to block that." He floated down with Mirajane absentmindedly following after until they both touched down.

Ryu took a quick glance back at the crater that the majority of their fight took place in before looking at his feet. After a moment, he chuckled. "Looks like I lost."

That snapped Mira, along with everyone present, out of her trance-like state, "What?"

He jabbed a finger at the ground below them, "When I moved to block my attack, I moved out of the circle."

Mirajane glanced over his shoulder and saw that he was right. When she had flown into the air in preparation for her final attack, she had gone to the very edge of the clearing. "I-I-I..." She had no idea what to say as her Take-Over faded away.

"Looks like I owe each of you three a favor," Ryu was struggling to contain his laughter. Hands folded behind his head and a pleasant smile on his face as he continued, "I don't give out favors that often, so make sure you use it wisely."

"Ryu," The redhead looked past Mirajane to see Makarov approaching. "I would like to ask you something."

The seriousness in which Makarov spoke caused Ryu to lose his carefree attitude, "I don't see why not."

"I know that you were restraining yourself throughout the spar," Makarov spoke. He could see it in Ryu's posture. At no point during his fight with the siblings did he show a hint of worry. "My question is...how much were you holding back?"

From off to the side, Mira listened with bated breath as she waited for Ryu's answer. He couldn't have been holding that much back...could he?

Ryu stared at the short guildmaster for a moment before nodding. He reached down to his waist and pulled his sword out from underneath his coat, "A significant portion of my power is sealed within this sword. Should I release it, the sword will disappear and I will undergo a transformation."

Makarov eyed the sword warily before meeting Ryu's gaze, "And should you have entered this state during your fight just now."

"Had it been when was still learning to control my powers, then everything within 100 meters would have been wiped off the earth." Everyone's eyes widened at his declaration. "But that was almost two years ago, I have long since mastered my power and can release it without any damage done to the surrounding area, although those that can't withstand the increased density to my power could pass out within a few moments."

Ryu returned Olvido to the spot between his belt, "I have only ever unsealed my full power five times, two of which were matters of life or death. The other three were for training."

Makarov adopted a thoughtful look, stroking chin. He did this for a moment before he let out a heartfelt chuckle, "You are a very interesting youngster Ryu. In light of this information, and having myself and the entirety of the guild witnessing you defeat the strongest team this guild has ever had single handedly, I hereby grant you the title of S-class."

* * *

Ryu found himself seated on one of the stools that lined the guild hall's bar, nursing a glass of water. Upon returning to the hall, the guild had gone right into full party mode, celebrating his immediate promotion to S-class.

He didn't really understand what the big deal was at first, until Makarov explained to him what that title meant. Now being an S-class wizard, Ryu could now access requests that were normally kept away from normal mages due to the greater danger that the request demanded. But with danger came great rewards, in general S-class quests offered no less than several million jewels as a reward for completing the job.

The thought of getting that much cash from a single job took a lot of worry off of Ryu's shoulders. He wasn't in danger of going broke due to the steady cash flow incoming from the book he finally managed to publish, but it was nice to know that his pockets wouldn't be going empty anytime soon.

The sound of someone plopping down on the stool next to him brought Ryu out of his thoughts. He glanced over to see that it was Mirajane, now sporting a few bandages around her shoulder and leg.

"Shouldn't you be enjoying the party?" Mirajane asked as she gestured to what was going on all around them. "This all for you you know."

He glanced over his shoulder before focusing his gaze on the whitette, "I partied enough earlier. How's the shoulder and leg."

The beauty rolled her shoulder a bit and winced, "Still a bit sore but I'll be fine. I'm doubting your claim of holding back though. Almost felt like my shoulder was gonna explode."

"Sorry about that," he offered her an apologetic look but she just waved it off.

"I've had worse," she frowned a bit, "I'm just disappointed that we couldn't get you to take us seriously and that the only reason we won was because of a damn technicality."

Ryu nodded, "Yes but you shouldn't sell yourselves short. I've been in more fights than I would care to admit, but number of times I've encountered teamwork like that can be counted on a single hand with four fingers to spare."

"At least you're not being an asshole about it," Mirajane sighed and laid her head on the bar, using her arms as a pillow. "So what are you gonna do now that you're done drifting around the country?"

"Well," Ryu began, "I'm planning on taking enough missions in order to save up for a house. After that, well...just go with the flow I guess." He finished with a lazy wave of his hand. He wasn't used to not having a plan in mind. The last few years have been about nothing other than survival and growing stronger.

But now he was in a world that was in a current state of peace. He didn't have to worry about things like hollows or psychopaths with a god complex. Ryu could now just sit back and move on. While the thought of this was strange to him, he couldn't say that the idea wasn't appealing.

Mirajane turned her head slightly to face him, "Well then you better head up to the second floor. That's where the S-class request board's at. One or two of those and you should have enough to get just about any house you want. Where are you going to stay till then?"

Ryu had opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by someone.

"You can stay at our place for now." The two turned to see Lisanna and Elfman seated next to them. Elfman had a few bandages here and there while Lisanna sported none. "We've got a pretty comfy couch in our living room."

"...How long have you guys been there?" Ryu and Mirajane both asked. Neither of them had even noticed them sitting down.

"Long enough to know that you have nowhere to sleep," Lisanna answered with a smile. "What do you think Elfman-nii?"

The only male Strauss shrugged his massive shoulders, "I don't have a problem with it."

"So we're all in agreement!"

Mirajane on the other hand didn't seem too fond of the idea and stood up, "Now hold on a min-,"

"Great!" And she was promptly ignored by her youngest sibling as she instead chose to turn to Elfman. "Why don't you show him where we live."

"Do I get a say in this?" Once again, Ryu and Mira spoke at the same time.

Again, Elfman shrugged and motioned for Ryu to follow him. The Arrancar sighed, but got up and walked a few paces behind the larger man.

Once they were out of earshot, Mirajane turned toward her sister a glare that would send most people running for the hills. "What do you think you're doing?"

"What are you talking about Mira-nee?" Lisanna asked with an all too innocent look, not even remotely bothered by her sisters glare of doom. "I just offered Ryu a place to sleep until he got a place for himself."

The older sister narrowed her eyes, not believing Lisanna for a second. "You're planning something. I don't know what it is, but I don't like it." Having said her piece, Mirajane got up to fetch herself a drink. Her shoulder was still aching and alcohol sounded really good at the moment.

Lisanna shook her head as he sister walked away. She remembered when Erza would constantly tease Mirajane about being smittened by Ryu. Her sister would immediately give chase, denying everything that came out of the redheads mouth.

But Lisanna wasn't fooled for a second. Her sister was so into Ryu and she didn't even know it. The youngest Strauss mentally sighed. She just hoped that neither of them were as dense as Natsu used to be.

'Don't you worry Mira-nee,' Lisanna thought as her sister sat back down, drink now in hand. 'I'll help you see your true feelings.'

 **-End-**


	6. Chapter 6

**Zrocker119:** **Very short AN here. Just wanted to apologize for those that were wait for this chapter to come out last Saturday, but I've decided to switch from a weekly to a bi-weekly update schedule. That's all...now onto the chapter.**

 **-Start- **

Ryu woke the next morning with a yawn, stretching as he did so. After a few satisfying cracks and pops he rubbed his eyes tiredly and took in his surroundings. He was confused as to where he was at first but then the memories yesterday's events came back and he realized that he was in the Strauss siblings home, the living room to be exact.

Getting off of the rather comfortable couch, Ryu listened for the tell tale signs of people being awake...only to hear nothing. Absolutely nothing. He couldn't even hear anything happening outside.

Ryu headed over towards the window and opened the blinds, "Oh, that's why." He had woken up much earlier than he thought. The sun was just starting to peak over the horizon. He took his time to watch as the blazing ball of fire slowly rose into the sky.

It was simple things like this that Ryu had missed the most while he was wandering the endless sands of Hueco Mundo, where the crescent moon hung eternally. He watched for a few moments longer before turning away and heading for the kitchen.

Since it was so early, it would be safe to assume that the siblings wouldn't be up for at least another hour or so. And since they were kind enough to let him sleep on their couch, Ryu figured that they wouldn't mind if he helped himself to some food.

* * *

The sun shone through the window into Mirajane's bedroom, angled so that it would strike the sleeping woman's eyes perfectly. Said sleeping woman was not amused and turned over so that the sun was no longer hitting her eyes and was just on the cusp of returning to sleep when something hit her.

She sat up, regardless of how tired she was, and sniffed the air. Her nose was assaulted by one of the most wonderful smells, which caused her stomach to growl. Mira sleepily got out of bed, tied a dark purple robe around her nightgown clad form and sluggishly made her way towards the kitchen.

"What are you cooking Lisanna?" She was rubbing the sleep out of her eyes when she entered so she failed to see the one cooking raise an amused brow. "Whatever it is, it smells amazing."

"Well good morning to you too," said a clearly male voice.

Mira, done rubbing the sleep out, opened her eyes and was greeted by the sight of Ryu standing in front of the oven dressed in the same clothes as yesterday, bar his vest and coat. His back was to her, but he was glancing over his shoulder, a look of amusement on his face.

"To answer your question though," Ryu turned back to the pan and stirred what he had in it, "I thought that I would make everybody breakfast as thanks for letting me crash here." He glanced back at her and said, "If you want to help out, there some vegetables on the counter that need to be cut up. You can do that right?"

Shaking herself out of her stupor, Mirajane grabbed one of the kitchen knives and twirled it expertly between her fingers, "Can I?"

Ryu put on a sly look, "Can you?"

Mirajane was not amused at all.

* * *

Ryu rubbed his cheek absentmindedly as the phantom pain of Mirajane grazing him with a kitchen knife was fresh in his mind. It hadn't hurt him and she knew it, but the message was clear. Do NOT question her cooking skills...ever.

So with that thought thoroughly integrated into his brain, Ryu walked down the road. His temporary roommates were still eating when he walked out the door so he was heading toward the guild by himself, but the streets were starting to fill as the sun rose higher into the sky.

People smiled and waved as he passed by, something that surprised him as he thought his appearance would deter people. Quite glad with this turn of events, Ryu nodded respectfully back to those that greeted him. He was already starting to like this place more than Las Noches.

An enjoyable walk later Ryu reached the guild hall. The doors were wide open and he could see that there were only a handful of people inside. He greeted them like he did with everyone else and headed up the stairs to the second floor. He glanced around, finding it to be almost exactly like the first floor but with a lot less tables. Off to the side was the job board.

He approached it and looked over the dozens of requests. "Slay lizardmen, track down lost family heirloom, escort caravan," the requests just went on and on from there. Ryu wasn't expecting there to be such a variety when it came jobs.

After a moment's decision Ryu grabbed one near the bottom. It had some dust covering it, showing that it had been there for some time. He went back down stairs, stopping only to get the request sanctioned by the barmaid and headed on out. His destination, the port town Cedar.

* * *

The distance between Cedar and Magnolia was quite far and would take almost half a day to reach by train. Instead Ryu opted for the quicker use of sonido, cutting the travel time down to three hours. Upon arrival, he saw that the town was quite large, running along almost the entire cove. The sight was quite beautiful.

Ryu sighed, turned away from the breathtaking view. 'Sightseeing will have to wait till later.' After asking someone for directions he walked to the center of the town, where he saw his destination.

He opened the door to the potions shop, the bell above sounding off with a pleasant chime.

"I'll be just a minute," called a voice from the back of the store.

"I'm a wizard from Fairy Tail," Ryu called back, "I'm here about the request."

There was the sound of something tipping over, followed by a yelp and glass shattering.

"OH FU-!"

 **BOOM!**

Ryu's hand instantly went to the handle of his sword as a loud explosion emanated from the back room. A few seconds passed and the door to the back started to open only for it to fall off of its hinges as who Ryu assumed to be the owner walked in.

He was much older than Ryu, mid fifties at the latest. He was of average height with a lean build and didn't have a lot of muscle. He was dressed like a scientist that came straight out of a syfy movie, lab coat, gloves, goggles and all.

He was bald and covered with soot so Ryu was unable to make out what color his skin was.

"Knew I shouldn't have placed the essence of a fire lizard next to blood-bud extract," the man said as he took his goggles off and moved them to his forehead, revealing dark blue eyes. "You see while it's a liquid, blood-bud flower extract is highly flammable and when mixed with- you have no idea what I'm saying do you?"

"Enough to know that whatever you're talking about makes one hell of an explosion," was Ryu's response.

"Yes, very much so." The man held out a hand, "Thax Strau, alchemist, scientist and self proclaimed ladies man. You said you're here about the job I sent out?"

Ryu shook the offered hand, "Ryu Sato, and yeah that's why I'm here."

"Can I see your mark," Ryu turned and showed him the mark on his neck. Thax grabbed a lacrima from the counter.

"Just checking to see if it's real," he explained when Ryu's sent him a questionable look. "Can't tell you how many times I've had people come in, claiming that they're from a big shot guild with nothing but a fake."

He aimed the lacrima at Ryu and it seemed to do a full body scan of him. After a moment it stopped and flashed green, "Hm, joined just yesterday and already allowed to take S-class missions. You must be pretty powerful."

"More so than most," Ryu replied, more than a bit confused by what had just happened. "What did you do just now?"

"I just did a quick scan of you and your magical signature which was then matched up to what was recorded in the magic council's archives." He held his chin in a thinking pose, "Strange that you were registered before you joined a guild. Normally you aren't in the system till after you join one."

"I have a friend that works for the council," Ryu explained easily.

Thax snapped his fingers, "That explains it. Now onto business, did you bring the request with you?" Ryu reached into his coat and withdrew the paper. Thax took a moment to look it over. Finding most the information to be correct he nodded, "Alright then, the only thing wrong is that this is the older one. I sent out a updated one a few days ago. It must still be getting processed."

Ryu frowned slightly, "What changed?"

"The plants that I need collected are in a dangerous section of the nearby forest and I discovered that it a very dangerous creature moved in not too long ago, so I increased the reward from 3 million jewels to 10 million."

The arrancars mouth was left slightly agape at the new reward amount. "Just what the hell moved into the area?"

"A Chimera," Thax explained, "An SS-class creature that is considered mythical in status due to how rare they are."

"So I basically just have to grab the plants and get the hell out," Ryu summed up.

"Normally that would be the case," Thax's eyes gained a dangerous glint to them, "But the chance to study a specimen such as a Chimera is too good of a chance to pass up." He retreated into the back room for a moment and came back, a lacrima in hand. "Your new job is to kill the Chimera and store its body in this."

Ryu grabbed the lacrima, eying it warily. "I was under the impression that organic tissue couldn't be sealed within a lacrima."

"Only living tissue. The dead stuff's fair game. Now, off you go," Thax said, shooing him out the door.

* * *

'Okay, so I was supposed to head north towards the forest, then head east once I got about five miles in, then it's a straight shot from there.' Ryu mentally checked off the directions as he strolled through the thick underbrush that covered the forests floor. The directions were simple enough, but there was just one problem...the forest in question WAS FUCKING MASSIVE!

He had already been walking for six hours, SIX, HOURS. Ryu was tempted several times to just saying to hell with it and nuke the forest, but the thought of the reward money held his frustrations at bay. So he settled for lashing out at a defenseless tree with his fist, uprooting it.

Ryu was going to move on, but stopped when he noticed something off about the tree. Lifting it enough to see the underside of it, he found enormous claw marks gouged into its side. The cuts went deep, much deeper than anything a bear could ever hope to dream of doing.

He set the tree down quietly but didn't remove his hand from it. The forest had gone quiet, the gentle chorus of forest critters had suddenly stopped. Ryu's eyes narrowed at the gentle sound of grass and dirt shifting.

Most wouldn't have been able to hear it, but after living in the sand of Hueco Mundo for two years one learned to catch every little detail.

The ground shook as whatever had been sneaking around finally pounced. Unfortunately for it, Ryu was ready.

His fingers dug into bark as he turned around and used the tree as a club, turning it into splinters as it smashed into the airborne target. The beast crashed into the ground, digging up a trench as it did. The monster shook the dirt from its fur and stood back on its feet.

The Chimera was massive, about the size of a train cart. It had the body of a lion, with a goat head attached to its back and a viper for a tail. All three heads faced him, and they didn't look too happy with Ryu's surprise counterattack.

The beast bellowed, charging at Ryu with a surprising amount of speed.

Thankfully the Arrancar wasn't one to be easily caught off guard. Ryu waited until it was within range before lashing out with a kick to the lion's jaw. A loud crack was heard as its lower jaw unhinged, leaving it useless.

Or so Ryu thought.

As he dodged the snake, the goat let out a bellow, causing a green magic circle to appear beneath it. When it faded, the lion's jaw had snapped back into place, the previous damage having been healed.

As the lion charged, the goat bellowed once again, though this time a purple magic circle appeared underneath Ryu.

He leaped to the side as a bolt of lightning came cracking down on his previous position. "So the goat can use magic. Great," was Ryu's dry comment. Not two seconds after he spoke those words, a plume of smoke billowed out of the snakes mouth.

As the smoke approached him Ryu could see how the plant life died wherever it touched. 'And the snake breathes poison...awesome.'

* * *

A groan escaped from Mirajane as she climbed the stairs to the guild's second floor. Natsu had gotten back from a job and had decided take another crack at her. As usual she had taken care of the eager pinkette in a single hit, but doing so had caused her sore shoulder to flare up.

She rolled her shoulder to alleviate some of the pain when she caught sight of someone else seated at one of the tables.

"Looks like somebody bit off more than they can chew."

"Not in the mood Laxus," Mirajane spoke through gritted teeth.

Laxus Dreyar, grandson of the guild master, one of the strongest members of the guild and one of the few people that Mirajane could say that she truly loathed. Doing her best to ignore him she approached the request board.

The blonde smirked, "Oh did I strike a nerve? That didn't take much. Did you and the rest of those weaklings really botch up your last request that bad?" Laxus leaned back, barely avoiding the chair that had been sent hurtling his way.

"You know for a damn fact that my siblings and I are anything but weak," Mira growled. "I'm surprised you haven't heard what happened yet. The guilds been talking about it nonstop since yesterday."

"Oh, I heard about it all right." Laxus had gotten up by this point and now stood directly in front of her, glaring down at her. A look that she returned. "In fact I heard that this newbie took out all three of you without breaking a sweat, even going so far to protect your ass from his own attack. Had it been me, I would've let you take the hit so that you could learn a lesson."

"Please," Mira leaned back against the board, arms crossed with a annoyed look, "You're hard pressed to beat me, so excuse me if I take that statement with a grain of salt."

Laxus growled but said nothing for there was truth to her words. Ever since they started training again, Mirajane and her siblings magic power had exploded. Elfman could now go toe-to-toe with Natsu and Grey, Lisanna was now one of the fastest members of the guild and Mirajane wasn't too far behind Laxus when it came to raw power.

Before they could continue to trade insult upon insult, a commotion downstairs caught their attention. They approached the railing but were forced to dodge as someone flew between them, only stopping once they hit the back wall. The dust cleared to reveal an unconscious Natsu.

* * *

"I warned the kid," Ryu spoke from the center of the hall, lowering his outstretched leg. One hand was in his coat pocket while the other held the briefcase that contained his reward money over his shoulder.

His fight with the Chimera wasn't overly difficult once he had silenced the goat head, but he had to hold himself back so that there would be a corpse left to take back to Thax. Once he got it back, Thax had decided to give him a 20% bonus pay for finishing the job so quickly.

So with 12 million jewels in hand, Ryu had hauled ass back to the guild for a much needed drink, only to get challenged to a fight by a pink-haired kid as soon as he had entered the building. He gave the kid a fair warning that he wasn't feeling it at the moment, but the guy took that as an invitation to attack.

In response, Ryu planted his foot in the kids face and gave him the short lived ability to fly.

"Was that really necessary?" Lisanna asked with a pout as her boyfriend disappeared up onto the second floor. She wasn't worried about Natsu, just annoyed at Ryu for knocking him out.

"He'll be fine sis," Mirajane called from her spot above them.

"Yo Mira is there a job up there involving a chimera," Ryu asked. She rose a brow but went to go check. A moment later she was back and gave him a nod of confirmation, "Go ahead and toss it, that was the updated version of the one I just did."

"Wait, you took an S-class request!" Laxus shouted. "No better question, who the hell are you!?"

"Oh," Mira smiled coyly, "Laxus meet Ryu. He's the newbie that defeated me and my siblings. Afterward the master decided to make him S-class."

A tingling sensation could be felt in the air as Laxus exerted a bit of his magic power. "Has the old man gone senile? Must be if he just hands out special treatment to anyone that joins with a marginal amount of power."

Not one to stand by and listen to others talk down to him, Ryu spoke up, "If you got a problem with me then come down hear and say it to my face."

Laxus disappeared and reappeared before Ryu in a bolt of lightning. The Arrancar didn't even so much as twitch for he had seen much faster. He did have to look up slightly to meet the taller man's eyes though.

"Just because you beat the one of the contenders for weakest S-class and two weaklings doesn't mean you're cut out to be on the same level as me."

Ryu closed his eyes and nodded, "Yeah, you're right." He then glared at him and said, "Then I guess it's a good thing that I'm on a much higher one than you."

A pin drop could be heard as the guild fell into complete and utter silence. Laxus flared his power even more, causing a electricity to envelop him. Do to the close proximity between them, Ryu felt some of it dance across his skin.

His lip twitched upward into a mocking grin. "Tingly."

That must have been the final straw cause one that came out of his mouth, Laxus's glare turned down right murderous. "You and me, outside, right, now." His tone left to room for refusal.

Normally Ryu would just tell the prick to shove it where the sun didn't shine and go get a drink, but he knew the type of guy that stood before him. Regardless of the answer he was given, he would attack.

"Fine," Ryu tossed his briefcase to Lisanna, who fumbled to catch it. "Let's go." Without another word the duo turned and headed outside, followed very closely by everyone else.

"Shouldn't we stop this?" Lisanna asked her elder sister. "This is Laxus we're talking about. He's a lot more ruthless than any of us are."

"Hm, I don't think we'll need to worry too much," Mirajane said uncaringly as they followed the others outside where they formed a circle around the two fighters. As they joined the group she noticed that the Thunder God Tribe, Laxus's "bodyguards", were present as well. All three members were trying to burn holes through Ryu's skull.

The redhead either didn't notice or just couldn't bring himself to give a damn.

"Are they getting in on this," Ryu gestured to the three he had yet to meet. When Laxus shook his head, the Arrancar rolled his shoulder. "Then tell your posse to step aside so that we can get this over with."

Freed, Evergreen and Bickslow all looked like they wanted to say something but one pointed look from Laxus was enough for them to hold their tongues.

Laxus exerted his magic and he was once again cloaked in lightning. With a blinding flash he appeared before Ryu, fist pulled back for a devastating punch only for him to seemingly phase through his opponent. He turned back around to attack once again, only for his chest to suddenly erupt in blood.

Only then did people notice that Ryu's sword was drawn and hung loosely at his side. If one were to look closer, they would see that the ground beneath his feet was burned from the friction of him dodging Laxus's first and last attack.

Ryu sheathed his sword as his opponent fell unconscious to the ground, the blood pooling around him.

"Laxus!" Freed cried as he and his teammates rushed to the side of their fallen leader.

"He'll be fine," Ryu said as he took his case back from Lisanna, "The cut is shallow enough that he won't bleed out anytime soon. But he'll spend the rest of his life knowing that I could've killed him." He glanced back so that they could see the masked part of his face, "Let this be a lesson in humility."

Their glares didn't lessen even as they carried Laxus to the guild's infirmary.

"What is going on here!?" Yelled a voice that caused everyone but Ryu and Mira to flinch in fear. The circle around him parted to get out of the way of the one who spoke.

Ryu let out a low growl. He was tired and just wanted a drink. He turned around to give the one that yelled a stern talking to, but the words died as he saw who it was.

It was a young woman with long, scarlet hair and brown eyes. Like most of the women Ryu had met since arriving in this world, she had a slender, voluptuous figure. Strangely enough though, she kept it covered by an armored chest piece, along with gauntlets, a blue skirt and black boots.

Her stunning beauty wasn't what caused Ryu to pause though. No, he paused because of the startling amount of resemblance between this woman and his deceased sister. Change her hair and eyes to match his own, and she would look exactly like an older version of Ryu's younger sister, Rin.

"I asked a question." The Rin lookalike repeated, snapping Ryu out of his trance.

Shaking those thoughts away, Ryu gave the other redhead a scowl. "The blonde guy was being a prick and wanted to fight. I gave him one and he lost."

"And you are?"

Before another fight could breakout, Mirajane stepped between them. "Calm down Erza, Laxus had it coming. To answer your question though, this is Ryu, our guild's latest addition."

Erza's eyes widened in recognition, "As in the same Ryu that saved you a year back. That Ryu?"

Mira was really getting tired of being reminded of that moment in her life. "Yes, this is the same Ryu."

"My apologies," Erza said with a bow much to Ryu's confusion. "I didn't know that you were the one that saved three members of our guild. You may strike me for being rude if you should wish."

"No, no that's okay." Ryu was more than a little unnerved by the notion of hitting her for a simple misunderstanding. "How about we just start over. I'm Ryu Sato." He held out his hand.

"Very well," Erza straightened up and shook the offered hand, "Erza Scarlet, a pleasure to meet you Ryu."

When it became clear that there would be no more fighting for the day, the watching guild members retreated back into the hall and returned to whatever it was that they were doing beforehand.

"Well then, now that all of the hostility is out of the air," Ryu started as he too went inside and made his way to the bar. "I'm getting a drink." Hopefully there would be no interruptions this time.

"Hey!" A familiar voice called out, "I said fight me!" Ryu sighed and uppercutted the same pink-haired kid from before, this time sending him crashing through the roof and into darkening sky. Why was the universe making it so damn hard for him to get a single drink.

"So...he seems interesting." Mirajane glanced over at her friend/rival to see her looking right back with an amused expression.

Not liking that look Mira asked, "What's with that look?" Erza just smirked and went inside with the others, leaving Mirajane all alone. She glared at her friend's retreating form, "Tch, all redheads are weird."

 **-END-**

 **Zrocker119:** **One last note. Less than 2,000 view and this story has almost 50 Fav/Followers and seeing how the first version of this story had over 60K view and less than 100 Fav/Follower, I'm very happy with how this version is being received.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Zrocker119:** **Quick little heads up for everyone. Near the end of this chapter there's a slight lemon scene and I do mean it when I say slight. I put another heads up right before and after the scene so keep a lookout for that. You can actually skip the scene and not miss out on anything should you choose. It's strictly for fluff purposes only.**

 **-START-**

A few weeks had passed since Ryu joined Fairy Tail and he couldn't say that he wasn't enjoying himself. Despite being the newest member everyone treated him like he had been there for years. Despite the pink-haired kid, whose name he learned was Natsu, challenging him to to a fight every time they saw each other, he got along with everyone just fine.

Ryu had bought himself quite the lavish house with the money he earned from his first job. Well technically it was a mansion, being around 10,000 square feet, three stories tall, dozens of rooms, a hot spring in the backyard and 200 acres of land. What? He had his own castle back when he was an Espada so he was used to having plenty of space.

He would take requests regularly to keep himself busy and not just the high rewarding ones either. He took jobs that varied from simple house work to construction, earning him quite the favorable reputation with the townsfolk. Apparently they were used to Fairy Tail causing the damage instead of fixing it.

It was about halfway through his third week when Ryu ran into the one person that he wasn't too sure about. That person being Laxus.

* * *

After saying his hellos to everyone, Ryu walked up to the second floor to grab his next job when he noticed Laxus leaned up against the board, arms crossed and an unreadable expression. He was wearing a skin tight, sleeveless shirt so wound he had received weeks prior could barely be seen. It had healed but left a large scar.

The two stared at one another in a tense silence before the blonde broke it, "Got a moment to talk?"

Not finding anything wrong with the request, Ryu gestured towards a nearby table. Once they were both seated Ryu spoke, "What's on your mind?"

"Quite a bit but mainly one thing," Said the veteran mage, "I keep thinking back to when we fought," he winced at the word because it was anything but a fight, "and I know that you were holding back, but not how much."

Ryu thought for a moment before taking out his Zanpakuto and placing it on the table. "When I dodged your attack and slashed you, I used every ounce of my power that wasn't locked away in this blade."

Laxus eyed the blade with a mixture of fear and curiosity. "Did you need to?"

"No," Ryu said truthfully.

"Then why did you?"

"Because I know what type of person you are," Ryu placed Olvido back in his sheath before continuing. "You're someone that believes in power and nothing else. If you aren't strong then you don't deserve to be here."

Laxus narrowed his eyes, "You knew me for about 40 seconds. How could you possibly know what type of person I am?"

"Because I've worked with people like that before. One of them was a complete asshole that nobody in my old organization liked, while the other was much more tolerable and actually became a close friend of mine." Ryu was thinking back to Grimmjow and Nnoitra. His eyes took on a dark look at the thought of the late Quinto Espada. "The asshole would constantly antagonize our fellow members, showing them zero respect."

Laxus was now curious, "What happened to him?"

"I robbed him of the thing he desired most," as he spoke the Arrancar adopted a smirk that sent chills down Laxus's back.

"That being?"

"The warriors death that he wanted. Our organization was at war with another and the enemy had invaded our base. I was watching the battle between my friend Grimmjow and his chosen rival, a talented warrior by the name of Ichigo Kurosaki. Let me tell you something," Ryu leaned forward, "That battle was one for the history books. The two were evenly matched in almost all aspects, and just when it looked like my friend would win, Kurosaki managed to land the finishing blow."

Ryu smiled fondly at the memory, "Ichigo refused to kill him though, despite Grimmjow having tried multiple times. The berry preferred to fight him another time. Grimmjow wasn't happy with that answer," His tone took on a dark turn once again, "But before Grimmjow could even try to continue the fight, Nnoitra, the asshole I was telling you about stepped in and tried to put him down."

"Nnoitra was sadistic bastard that wasn't afraid of killing the weak and wounded. Several times I've had to step in and put him in his place, but that had been the last straw. I beat him and his subordinate into the dirt. Even when he unsealed his powers, I tossed him around like a rag." Ryu looked Laxus in the eyes, "I didn't give the honor of dying a glorious death that he desired. The last thing he saw was me, staring down at him like the insect that he was."

Laxus wasn't sure what to think. The knowledge that the man sitting across from him had killed one of his own allies put a knot in his stomach, "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I think that you're like my friend Grimmjow. An asshole most of the time, but with the capability to change." Ryu got up to leave, stopping only to place a hand of his guildmates shoulder, "Don't follow that same path as Nnoitra, Laxus. Unlike him, you have people that genuinely care about you. Don't toss them aside for the sake of being weaker than you."

With that said the Arrancar left without grabbing a job, leaving Laxus to think about what he had just been told.

* * *

Ryu had decided to go back to his home and spend the rest of the day relaxing in isolation, grabbing only a bottle of booze and a book before plopping down on the large couch in his living room.

He was about half way through the book and around ¼ into the bottle when someone came knocking on his door. Marking his page, Ryu set the book and bottle down and went to the door.

Opening it he was greeted by the sight of the the ever beautiful Mirajane "Oh, hey Mira. How's it going?"

"Just got back from a job," she said with a shrug. "Elfman's off doing who knows what and Lisanna went to go spend time with her fire eating boyfriend. So I'm alone with nothing better to do and figured that I'd come over and talk."

Ryu saw nothing wrong with having some company and stepped to the side, allowing entrance into his home. He led her into the living room and motioned for her to take a seat before heading to the kitchen.

"You want anything to drink?" He asked.

"Sure, preferably anything stronger than regular booze," Mirajane called back. While Ryu was out of the room she took the time to look around. The living room was quite large, having a grey L couch, loveseat, chair, coffee table and a few stands with assorted items on them like pictures and such.

Looking closely Mira noticed that all of the pictures were hand drawn and very well done. Almost all of them were of people dressed similarly to how Ryu was back when they first met. All wore white and carried a sword, just like Ryu.

The one that really caught her attention though was the one of Ryu. He was wearing his old white outfit, sword drawn with fire surrounding him and ready to fight. But it was what stood behind him that made her stare.

It could only be described as a demon. It had Steel grey skin, black, bone like armor covering its forearms and shins, giving it clawed gauntlets and greaves, and had a whip-like tail. Its head was completely covered by a black mask that resembled a human skull, but with demonic features such as razor sharp teeth and two large horns the protruded from its temples that curved upwards at a sharp angle.

Crimson red hair cascaded from underneath the back of the mask, reaching all the was down to it's mid-back. Lastly, there was a whole the size of a cannon ball in its chest. Right where its heart should be.

"See something you like."

Mirajane jumped at the sound of Ryu's voice. She turned to find him standing beside her with a glass of wine in each hand, one held out for her. She thanked him as she took it.

"Why are they all hand drawn," she asked as she took a sip. She looked at the glass in surprise once the taste hit her tongue. It was of the same quality of what they kept stocked for the higher shelves at the guild.

"They're all drawn because I had no actual pictures," Ryu explained as he grabbed one of the many pictures. It was a group drawing of him with the friends he had made during his time with the Espada.

Ryu was in the center of the group with one arm around the shoulder of two of his fraccion members, Loly and Menoly. The imposing figure of Takeshi stood behind them, with his mate Mila Rose sitting on one of his arms. Starrk was lying down in the front with Lilynette crouched on his stomach. Grimmjow stood with his hands in his pockets while Nel was propping herself up on his shoulders. Off to the side stood Ulquiorra and Gin.

Everyone was smiling in some shape or form, with the exception of Ulquiorra who Ryu had drawn stoic as ever.

Mira leaned over to observe the picture, taking note of how he had his arms around two the women on either side of him. "Were you close with those two?"

"We had a few flings," was his casual reply, "It was nothing serious though." He turned and put the picture back, completely missing Mirajane's slightly miffed expression.

She didn't really want to know but curiosity got the better of her so Mira asked, "What do you mean by that?"

Ryu rubbed his chin for a moment before saying, "While I cared for them and their well being, I couldn't bring myself to truly feel any sort of romantic attachment to them." He paused, "Wow saying it like that makes me sound like a real dick."

"Kind of, yeah," Mira nodded in agreement.

"Okay let me explain it like this. Where I'm from, the rule of survival is that the strong flourish. If you were too weak, you flocked to the strong for protection. I was the strongest of my old organization, so the two of them asked to serve under me-"

"In more ways than one," muttered Mira but spoke low enough so that Ryu couldn't hear.

"-I said yes and we sort of became friends with benefits. Everything was consensual and I never asked them to do anything they didn't want to do themselves." Ryu finished his explanation. "Do I still sound like a dick?"

"Less so," Mirajane said with a shrug and took a drink of her wine, "Now you just sound like a player."

"Haha," Ryu laughed halfheartedly and finished his drink in one go. "So other than my past sex life, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"I was actually hoping to cash in on the favor you owe me," Mira took a seat on the couch, her legs crossed. Ryu found himself struggling to not take a peek under her teasingly short skirt. "I have a photoshoot in a couple days and the other models and I were asked to bring a guy along."

Ryu raised a brow, "And I was your first choice?"

"Elfman's my brother, Natsu's dating my sister, Laxus is a prick, Gray can't keep his clothes on and the rest of the guys in our guild are barely average when it comes to looks," she stated with a completely straight face. "It's more like you were the only remaining option."

Ryu crossed his arms and smirked, "So according to you, not only am I a player, but I'm a player that has decent looks."

Getting up Mirajane approached Ryu, eyeing him up and down like he was a prize to be won. She stopped directly before him, placing a hand to his chest. She felt him tense up and smirked, thinking that she finally manage to catch him off guard.

In reality though Ryu was internally panicking, for her hand had just missed his hollow hole by less than an inch. He released a quiet breath when she dragged a single finger down his chest. Panic of nearly being found out aside, Ryu was quite turned on by what she was doing, especially since he had to look down to see just what she was doing, giving him an unrestricted view of her vast amount of cleavage.

"You're a very attractive man, Ryu." The way she spoke his name sent a unintentional shiver down his spine. She looked up, staring into his mismatched eyes, "So, will you come with me to the studio this thursday?"

"If you're calling in the favor then I don't really have a choice."

"Not really no," She agreed and turned to leave with a seductive sway in her hips. Just when she was about out, Mirajane threw him one last look over her shoulder and winked before finally closing the door.

"...Spirit King be damned, I really want that woman," Ryu breathed out as soon as the door closed. She was everything that a man like himself could ever hope for. She was smart, powerful and drop dead gorgeous, but the thing he found most attractive about her though was the fact that she refused to be seen as anything other than an equal.

The true reason why he could ever truly love Menoly and Loly was because they saw themselves as beneath him, and never tried to improve themselves.

Mirajane was the exact opposite. She knows that she's currently weaker than him, and trains to reach his level. Even while sitting in his home, Ryu could feel her power growing stronger everyday. It was a slow burn for sure, but with enough time she will eventually reach her goal.

That was the type of mate that Ryu sought, one that could stand at his side and face the world with him. But he held himself back for one reason. His hand drifted to the spot where a heart should be instead of a hole.

Ryu's eyes suddenly widen when he realized what he agreed to. If he went to the studio...then there would be a chance that his hollow hole could be discovered.

"Fuck!"

* * *

Mirajane strolled off the train and took in the site that was Crocus, the capital city of Fiore. Stretching her arms and back she said, "That was the most relaxing train ride that I've ever taken."

"Probably because you all but begged me to pay for first class tickets," Ryu said as he stood beside her.

"Oh please," She replied with a hand on her hip, "The food alone was worth it."

"The food was decent, though I can do much better," he commented offhandedly.

Mira smirked, "Alright, then you get to cook a full course meal for me tonight." She then proceeded to walk away, leaving behind a gaping Ryu.

Regaining his composure Ryu quickly followed after the white-haired model through the capital's busy streets. The duo received many stares as they went on their way. The ones directed toward Mira were of lust and admiration, while those sent Ryu's way were mainly of confusion.

Ryu ignored them for the most part, but Mirajane would actually stop to say hi to a fan or to sign a magazine. Due to her stopping so much though, it ended up taking them an extra twenty minutes to reach the studio, not that Ryu minded anyway. It was nice to see that Mira interacted with her fans.

"Well here we are," Mirajane announced once they finally arrived at their destination. "Just follow me, they're expecting us."

Entering the studio, Ryu was surprised to see just how much larger the place was from the inside than the outside but just wrote it off as some sort of space distortion magic. While following the veteran model the duo passed multiple dressing rooms and several different sets. Some being beaches or hotel lobbies. It was quite the set up.

They walked towards the middle where another dressing room was. Upon entering Mirajane was immediately confronted by a man, and what Ryu meant by that was that she was pulled into a hug and spun around.

"~Mira~," the man sang. "~It's been so long since you were last here!~"

She let out what Ryu thought to be a cute sounding giggle. "Calm down Diz, I've only been gone for a few weeks."

"But I still missed you nonetheless," Diz said before finally setting her down. Now that he wasn't spinning around, Ryu could get a good look at him. He was of average height and had a skinny build. He was relatively handsome with brown eyes and thin eyebrows. His dirty blonde hair was short along the sides and longer on the top and pulled into a single thick braid that he hung over his left shoulder.

"Now who's this handsome stud that you've brought before me today?" Diz asked after giving Ryu a quick look over.

"Name's Ryu Sato."

Diz' eyes widened at the mention of his name and looked toward his top model, "Is this the same Ryu that you wouldn't stop mentioning for months on end?"

Ryu couldn't suppress the smirk that formed at the sight of the whitette blushing up a storm. "So you were even talking to you photographer about m-" he was cut off by Diz enveloping him in one of the strongest hugs that he had ever been on the receiving end of.

"Thank you so much for saving Mira and her brother and sister!" Diz cried as he squeezed harder. Ryu was certain that his spine would've snapped if it wasn't for his steel-like skin. "I've been working with Mira since she first came to model. I wouldn't know what to do without her!"

"A-a-anytime," Ryu managed to croak out. His vision was had begun to blur when Diz finally released him. 'Damn I think he cracked my ribs!'

"Hmhm," Mirajane giggled to herself.

"Anyway," Diz put an arm around each of their shoulders, "Let's get the two of you prepped and ready!"

"What's the theme this time?" Mira asked as she took one of the two seats that was set in front of a mirror. With a snap of her fingers her clothes disappeared, replaced by a dark purple robe.

"Night on the town," Diz said as he got behind Mira and began working on her hair while she started to apply a small amount of makeup. But before getting too into it he turned to Ryu, "Go ahead and strip down to your undergarments and put on the spare robe behind you."

As Ryu began to strip, Mirajane watched his reflection in the mirror. His coat and vest were the first to go, followed shortly by his shirt, leaving his upper body completely exposed. She let out a quiet gasp at what she saw.

His body was completely flawless, consisting of nothing but tightly compact muscle, being only slightly larger than Natsu of Gray but nowhere near the same level as Laxus or her brother.

His lower clothes were soon off, briefly leaving him in nothing but his dark blue boxer briefs, allowing Mirajane to see his toned rear.

"Better work fast Mira," Diz whispered to her, "A man like that won't be available forever. I saw the stares that your fellow models were giving him on the way in."

"I'm working on it," she whispered back.

Ryu let out a sigh of relief, glad the the illusion lacrima he bought the other day worked properly. The illusion was strong and could even be touched, but if enough force is applied, then objects could still pass through the space so he would still have to be careful.

"Is there anything we can do about your mask," Diz asked without turning away from his work.

"Afraid not," Ryu replied as he took the remaining chair beside them. "It's one of the physical representations of my power. Besides back when I was learning to control my powers, the skin beneath was pale so I always looked like I was wearing a mask anyway."

Diz let out a humming sound, "No matter. Besides I quite like it. Adds a layer of mystery to you."

* * *

After getting their makeup all done, Ryu and Mirajane were sent to the clothing racks. His was full of suits and other nice clothes, while hers consisted mainly of dresses. Once dressed the photo shoot began.

It went on for hours, switching between dresses and locations. Ryu actually found it to be pretty enjoyable. Diz was a great guy and didn't flip out whenever he made a mistake, which was more often than Ryu would care to admit.

It was almost night time by the time they had finished the shoot.

"And that does it for today," Diz said as he packed away his camera and shot them both a thumbs up, "Good hustle out there!"

"Thanks Diz," Ryu returned the gesture, "It was a lot more fun than I originally thought it would be."

Mira elbowed him in the side playfully, "That's because Diz is the best photographer I could ask for."

"Damn straight!" Diz exclaimed which earned him laugh from the mages. "I'll see you soon Mira and hopefully you as well Ryu."

"I'll keep it in mind Diz," with that said the Fairy Tail wizards left the studio. Once they were a good distance away from the building, Ryu suddenly wrapped an arm around Mirajane's waist.

"What are yo-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence as the two disappeared in a burst of sonido. Everything was a blur to the Take-Over mage for what felt like several hours. Her eyes could barely keep track of the environment that flew past her, and then it was suddenly over and Mira found herself keeling over.

Ryu, for his part, just rubbed Mirajane's back in soothing circles as her stomach threatened to unload all of it contents. Good thing he was smart enough to plan for this and had them appear by the bushes in front of his porch.

"There there," he said as he continued to rub her back, "It's completely normal for you to get sick on your first trip."

After several agonizing long moments of dry heaving later, she managed to get a hold of her stomach, "W-what the hell was that?"

"That was Sonido, a technique that allows me to move at highspeeds."

Mirajane leaned forward as another wave of nausea hit her, "How can you use that without getting sick."

"Same reason you can use Take Over magic. It's natural for me," Ryu explained as he lead her inside. Taking her to the dining room, he sat her at the table before grabbing her a glass of water and some medicine to help settle her stomach.

As she took the offered pills Mirajane spoke, "I don't care how much time that move shaved off, I'll be sticking with the train."

The secret Arrancar chuckled as he took his coat off, draping it over one of the chairs and proceeded to wash his hands. He then reached into the fridge and began to pull out ingredients for dinner.

"You craving anything in particular?"

"Chefs choice," was Mira's response. She was curious to see what he would come up with.

"I've got just the thing in mind," Knowing what he was going to cook, Ryu seemed to zone out everything around him and fell into his own universe.

It wasn't long afterwards that Ryu set dinner on the table. Mira took in the sight of chicken curry, chapati bread, plain rice and a glass of mango lassi to wash it all down. She had to force herself not to drool as the scent assaulted her nose.

"Well don't just stare at it," Ryu said with a smirk. One that widened when his guest began to dig into the food that he had carefully prepared. He watched for a moment longer before joining her.

About ten minutes later the two of them sat with every scrap of food gone and full bellies.

"That," Mirajane began, "was some of the best food that I've ever eaten." She knew that Ryu was a gifted cook from the time she helped him with breakfast, but what she had just eaten as on a whole new level.

"Well I was the designated cook back where I'm from." Ryu said as he got up to grab a bottle of wine and some glasses.

As he moved to poured their drinks Mira asked, "What was your old home like?"

Ryu paused in what he was doing, having been caught completely off guard by the her question. "My...my old home wasn't too different from here."

"Oh come on,"' She pushed, not even close to being satisfied by his answer. "There has to be more to it than that."

Ryu chuckled as he poured them both a her one he spoke, "Well, I guess there are a few differences. One being that not many people had powers."

"I remember you mentioning that back when we first met." Mirajane said as she took the offered drink. "Something about how less than a single percent of the population."

Ryu nodded, "Correct. That's because many don't have the proper amount of Reiryoku to develop abilities of their own."

"Reiryoku?" Mira questioned, having never heard that term before, "You mean magic right."

The red head shook his head, "That's another difference between our homes. Back where I'm from, there's no Ethernano so that means no magic. What we have instead is Reiryoku, which is the power of ones soul. It's what fuels my powers. You remember when the air seemed to become heavier back when we fought."

Mirajane nodded, remembering the feeling very clearly. It was as if the air was trying to suffocate her. So similar to when a mage exerts his or her magic and yet completely different at the same time.

"What you were feeling was my Reiatsu," Ryu explained, "That's the physical force that is created when my Reiryoku is released. Essentially you were feeling the weight of my soul."

That sent a shiver down the mages spine. "And that was with you holding back." She all but whispered. "Are there others with that much power where your from."

Ryu held his chin in thought. "In terms of raw power, I can think of three others that I know for certain that out class me." Mira almost spit out her wine at how casually he stated that he was basically the fourth strongest back home. "But there are a few others that could potentially defeat me."

Mirajane's expression became one of confusion, "But you just said that you were forth when it came to power. How did you reach the conclusion that others could beat you?"

"Simple, they all have something that I sorely lack," He held up a single finger. "Experience. While powerful, I'm still young. And many of the people I fought against had decades of experience." He then said somewhat grumpily, "Not to mention that some of their powers are completely broken."

Mira raised a brow, "Really? It can't be that bad."

"One man had the power to make childrens games reality. Another was so smart that if his opponent used the same ability too many times, he would grow bored and simply disrupt their powers," Ryu actually shivered as he recalled his training with his former guardian Kisuke. "Lastly, the man that defeated me twice has the ability that he calls complete hypnosis that allowed him to manipulate the five senses. All you had to do was see him use this ability once and you were forever under his illusions till the day you died."

Ryu took a drink to sooth his parched throat, "Also, that man didn't even have to cast his illusion to defeat me."

The color drained from Mira's face as she processed what she was told, "I can see what you meant by broken."

Emptying the rest of his glass down his throat, Ryu checked the time. "Damn I didn't realize it was getting that late," he said with yawn and stood, "I'll show you to your room."

Mira, having finished her drink as well, followed him to one of the many rooms located on the second floor. "This is it," he said as he showed her into a moderately sized room, "The bathroom's the next door over to the right. If you need anything my room is right across the hall."

Ryu went to leave but was quickly stopped by her hand latching onto his arm.

"Before you go," Mirajane said as she slid her hand down so that it was holding his, "I just wanted to thank you. Even though I used my favor to get you to come with me to the photoshoot, you didn't have to be such a gentleman. So, thanks."

The Arrancar glanced down at her hand that he was still holding. He marveled at how the softness of her skin felt against his calloused fingers. Lacing her finger with his own, he gave her and a reassuring squeeze, "Even if you hadn't called in your favor, I would've gone anyway."

"Why?"

Smirking he let go of her hand and left the room. Before he closed the door though he looked over his shoulder and said one last thing.

"Because you were the one that was asking."

* * *

Ryu stood with his back against the shower wall as hot water fell down his body, carrying away the days grime and troubles. But while it soothed his muscles, it did nothing to calm his metaphorical heart as it raced at a thousand beats per second.

"Why the fuck did I say that? Because you were the one that was asking," he repeated in a mocking manner. Was that really the best he could come up with? Talk about a lame way to end what Ryu very much considered to be a date.

Glancing down at his chest, Ryu placed his hand against the illusion that covered his hollow hole and slowly began to apply pressure. A few moments later and the illusion began to fade, the false skin becoming more and more transparent allowing him to see the lacrima that powered the spell. It had cost him a small fortune to get but damn if it wasn't a good investment.

So long has he took care to avoid any blows to the heart then he should have nothing to worry about. Ryu took his hand away from his chest, watching as the spell hid the hole once again.

A few more minutes went by before Ryu stepped out of the bathroom, one towel around his waist while he used another to dry his hair. Once finished he let it drape around his neck and glanced at his bed to see Mirajane sitting there.

Thinking nothing of it he opened the top drawer to grab underwear, but stopped once his brain finally processed what he just saw. Ryu's head turned to his bed so fast that he was surprised his neck didn't snap.

Mira watched him from her spot on the edge of his bed no longer dressed in her daily clothes. Now she wore only a matching set of lacy, dark purple bra and panties along with her stockings. The bow had been taken out, allowing her silvery-white locks to cascade down her back and over her shoulders where they stopped to frame her breasts.

She was currently leaning back on her arms so that her back was in a slight ark, which in turn caused her already large breasts to be pronounced even more so.

Ryu could think no thoughts other than how absolutely beautiful the woman before looked at that moment. As his eyes took in every ounce of her beauty, he felt desires that he thought were long buried rise to the surface

"Kept me waiting long enough," Mira said as she stood up and began to slowly saunter over toward him. The sensual sway in her hips immediately drawing his gaze. "I was starting to think that you wouldn't be coming out."

Ryu finally found his voice again and spoke, "I wasn't aware that you would be waiting for me. I could've swore that I had already bid you goodnight."

"You did." She came to a stop right before him, forcing him to look down to meet her gaze. "But I don't recall saying such a thing." She placed one hand on his shoulder and the other at the back of his head, pulling him into a kiss.

 **-Lemon start, skip if you want-**

While at first caught off guard by the act Ryu was quick to reciprocate the kiss, grabbing her by her shapely waistline. He probed her lips with his tongue, asking for entrance. He felt her lips form a smirk but refused to part them.

Growling at being kept from his goal Ryu decided to up his game. The hands that had been idle up to this point went straight to work, one going to palm her shapely rear while the other snaked its way under the her bra to cup her right breast.

He gave both parts of Mira's body a squeeze, making her moan from the stimulation. Ryu used that moment to work his tongue into her mouth, exploring every inch of it. The two battled for dominance for a few moment before she submitted and followed his lead.

Once every square inch of her mouth had been thoroughly explored Ryu pulled back. He took one look into Mirajane's desire filled gaze and knew what she wanted and put both hands on her ass so that he could lift her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist and allowed herself to be carried. Her hands disappeared behind her back to undo the clasp of her bra, all while moaning from him nibbling on her neck.

Once the article of clothing was tossed to the side, Ryu immediately moved from her neck to her breasts and took one of her now stiff nipples into his mouth. She wrapped her arms around his head, forcing him even further into her bosom.

Mira felt his teeth replace his tongue, throwing her head back as she cried out in pleasure.

Even though blinded, Ryu was able to find the bed and allowed them to fall onto it. The rest of Mira's clothes were soon discarded, followed shortly by his lone towel as their desire for one another reached new heights.

 **-Lemon over-**

* * *

Several hours later Ryu lied awake in his bed, sleep having eluded him. He glanced down to take in the sight of Mirajane sleeping peacefully as she used his chest as a pillow, with one arm holding her close to him.

The blankets only came up to their waists, leaving them uncovered from there and up, but neither were cold. As he traced circles into her back, Ryu thought about what this meant for the two of them.

He didn't know if this was a one time thing, but he really doubted that it was. What the two did felt different from the nights that he spent with Loly and Menoly. That was just sexual relief and nothing more, but what he dime with Mirajane was different from that.

"What are you thinking about?"

Ryu blinked and looked to see that Mira was now awake. He hadn't even felt her stir.

"I was just think about what this means for us," he admitted, seeing no reason to hide his thoughts.

"Hmm," Mirajane replied as she snuggled further into his chest. "By now it should be pretty obvious that I want us to be more than just friends." She propped herself up and over him so that her face was hovering over his. Her hair fell onto his chest and her eyes bore into his own, painting him a picture that would be forever engraved into his memory. "Besides I wouldn't give my virginity to just anyone."

Ryu cocked a brow at her statement. "A virgin doesn't know how to do the things you were just doing."

She treated him with a coy smile, "I may or may not have been borrowing certain novels from Levy for the past few weeks." She silenced any further questions with a kiss. Several moments pass before she broke the sensual act for air.

"I like you Ryu," Mira confessed as she snuggled into his chest. "I want us to be more than friends."

Ryu hummed in response, "And I take it that you don't mean friends with very good benefits." The Arrancar wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. "I've never been in a relationship before," he admitted. "I was always too busy to even consider having one."

"And now?" Even though she did her best to hide it, Ryu was able to pick up on the subtle worry in her voice.

"Now...now I'm willing to give it a shot." Ryu felt her smile into his chest and he found himself smiling as well. "The real challenge though," he began, causing her to face him. "Is how do we break this to your brother and sister?"

Mirajane just shook her head as the two shared a chuckle. Shortly after that she fast asleep with Ryu being awake for only a few minutes longer before following her example.


	8. Chapter 8

**Zrocker119:** **Not gonna lie, kind of surprised by the response from last chapter and by that I mean how most of them were about how the lemon scene was too short. Well sorry to say but an future lemons will be of similar length and detail. Anyway, onto the story.**

 **-START-**

"I can't believe this!"

From within the confines of the Magic Council HQ, a roar of outrage could be heard. Any employees that happened to be walking by the main chambers wisely chose to continue moving.

"Would you please settle down Gran Doma," pleaded Yajima as his fellow council member prepared to go on another rant.

"You would be the one to ask," was the response he received from the chairman. "Your former guild is responsible for the near complete destruction of Hargeon!" exclaimed Gran Doma as he held the reports detailing the extent of the damage. "More than half the buildings along the coast line, just up and gone in fire."

"Isn't it about time that we did something about Fairy Tail," asked Michello as he read his copy of the report. "They've always caused more harm than good, even more so during the last decade." Many of the other council members nodded in agreement at his statement.

Wherever that guild went to, a trail of destruction was sure to follow.

"I'm in agreement with Michello," the one that spoke this time was Belno. "We've been very lenient with them, yet our generosity can only go so far. How many more times can we give them a slap on the wrist before other guilds start to think that we can't keep them in line? We'll be accused of playing favorites."

A chuckle drew everyone's attention to a single member. With a smirk present Siegrain spoke, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I personally find them to be quite entertaining."

Org frowned at the younger member's behavior, "Try and take this more seriously Siegrain. Fairy Tail has gotten out of control and personal feelings aside," he sent a pointed look in Yajima's direction, "we can't let this latest act slide."

"Then quit talking about it and do something."

Despite their best efforts, all members of the council felt a shiver crawl up their spines as the only non-council member spoke.

All eyes turned towards the fedora wearing Rune Knight commander, Gin Ichimaru. Under normal circumstances he would not be present during such a meeting, but he was currently undergoing the process of becoming a member himself. While many current members didn't like the man, they could not deny the fact that the reputation of the Rune Knights wouldn't be where it was today if it weren't for him.

Gin alone was responsible for ten percent of the arrests made in the last year, had reworked the training regiment for the soldiers from the ground up and created a whole new branch that the public had dubbed, "The Axe of the Council". The new branch had only a few dozen members and existed for one purpose. To hunt down and terminate dangerous criminals, regardless of magic capabilities or not.

"But," Gin continued, "that would mean the disbandment of the strongest and number one poster guild in the country." He covered his mouth in mock worry, "just imagine the public outcry such an action would bring about."

"Don't even try and spin it that way Gin," Scolded Org making Gin frown playfully, "We all know of your close ties to the guild. If it comes to sending your branch as insurance then so be it."

"I wouldn't even consider following that order." Gin's frown became a serious one, his playful manner gone and replaced with a calculated one. "Much like Yajima, I know that Fairy Tail is full of nothing but good people," he gave a lazy wave of his hand, "besides I don't want my men or any other poor saps you'd send to get slaughtered."

"Oh yes," Spoke Ultear as she twirled some of her hair around her finger. "I've read the reports on your friend, Ryu Sato. With the kind of power he possesses, I'm surprised I haven't seen his name on the candidate list for becoming a Wizard Saint."

"Oh I've put his name forward many times," Gin tilted his head in the chairman's direction, "but I always get stonewalled. Something about not wanting Fairy Tail to have two of the ten Saints as members."

Gran Doma slammed his hand onto his stand, "Enough Gin! We know the risks involved with disbanding Fairy Tail, but if they keep going at this rate then we'll have no choice."

Gin offered a lazy shrug before appearing at the exit with a quick use of Shunpo, "I'll go and have a talk with Makarov. From what Ryu has told me, the old man is always willing to listen to reason." He offered a wave before he turned to leave.

"This meeting isn't o-" Org sighed as the door closed behind the Rune Knight Commander. "I still have a hard time believing that that man is a capable leader."

* * *

Gin hummed a merry tune as he walked along the halls of the HQ. He paused when he saw someone waiting for him around the bend. "Now, aren't you still back in the chambers?"

Siegrain smirked at the man. "I'm just a thought projection, but you already knew that." He pushed off of the wall to stand before the former Shinigami captain, "You should really stop messing with the other members, or else your candidacy could be tossed out."

"I'm not too worried about that," Gin replied with a smile that sent a chill down Siegrains back. "So instead of worrying about me, you should focus on your own actions, or should I say the actions of your brother."

Siegrain's smirked is replaced by a look of shock. 'How does he-'

"Judging by the look on your face," Gin said as he placed a hand on his hat, "You're probably wondering how I know about him." He leaned down so that his eyes were level with his, "It's my job to keep on the look for dangerous people and your brother is one of them. I don't know what the two of you are up to, so I can't do anything...yet."

Gin's eyes cracked open ever so slightly, pinning the Wizard Saint in place with his gaze. "But know this. The moment you fuck up," Siegrain became aware of the blade the was stabbed through his throat. His body may have just been a projection, but the intent behind the gesture was quite clear.

Seeing that the message had gotten through, Gin sheathed his sword and continued on his way, "See you around, Siegrain." Said council member turned to stare at Gin's retreating form, but the man that had proven to be an enigma to him had already disappeared.

* * *

The Shinigami turned Rune Knight commander rubbed his eyes as he leaned back into the cushions of his seat. He was currently riding in the first class section of a train that was bound for Clover Town. He was originally supposed to head to Magnolia, but was informed that the monthly meeting between guildmasters was today. So he now had a much longer ride and had decided to use the extra time it took to get there to catch up on some paperwork.

Gin momentarily turned away from his work when he felt a sudden spike of magic energy. It had been strange at first to feel the magic that permeated this world, but Gin was a prodigy for a reason and so it had only taken him a few weeks to get used to sensing it.

Brushing off the spike as the train passing a mage in midst of training, Gin went back to his papers, only for the train to come to a screeching halt. Gin grabbed the table to keep himself from falling out of his seat but the stack of papers weren't so lucky, now scattered all along the cart's floor.

Gin stared at the mess in horror as he realized that he would have to reorganize every single one of them. Grumbling to himself, Gin produced a lacrima from within his coat and activated it. All of the paper glowed momentarily before disappearing. Even though the mess was cleaned, Gin was still depressed at the thought of having to sort them.

Suppressing those feelings, Gin got up and moved toward the back of the train as he realized that the source of the magic he detected earlier was actually located there. The train had begun to move again, slowly gaining speed.

The sound of shattering glass caused Gin to move faster, reaching the very back of the train moments later. Standing by a shattered window was a man with black hair that was done up in a way eerily similar to that of a certain, red-headed lieutenant he once knew.

The commander's eyes shifted to the man's hand, where he noticed what looked like a flute that had a three eyed skull on one end.

Gin recognized the item easily, having read about a certain cursed object that had the same description in the council's archives.

"Well well well." The man jumped, caught completely off guard by Gin's voice, "that is an interesting flute you've got there."

Kageyama shot around to face him, only to freeze when he found Gin's middle and index finger inches from his chest.

"Bakudo #61, Rikujokoro."

Before the Eizenwald mage could react, his midsection was pierced by six wide beams of light. "Wh-what the hell is this!?" He wasn't in any pain but try as he might, Kageyama could no longer move his body.

With his target completely immobilized, the silver-haired man was free to reach down and take the demon flute from his grasp. "Now that that's taken care of," Gin wore a mock smile that did nothing to alleviate the mage's fears, "Why don't you tell me why a mage from a dark guild would be carrying something like this."

* * *

 **Earlier that day**

Fairy Tails resident Arrancar let out a groan of irritation as the sun shone through a crack between the curtains of his bedroom window. The beam of light had angled perfectly to strike Ryu's closed eyes, making it impossible for him to ignore the rising sun.

While he was weighing the ramifications of what would happen should he destroy the sun, his partner in bed shifted so that she faced him, her back to the light.

"Oh no you don't," Ryu said as he wrapped an arm around her, "If I have to wake up then so do you."

That earned him a growl as Mira dragged a finger down his chest, dark lightning sparking dangerously at the tip. "Don't you start with me. It's too early," she grumbled as she worked to make herself comfortable against his chest.

"I guess we can stay like this for a little bit," Ryu said as he pulled her closer into his embrace.

"You're just going along with it so you can feel my chest pressed up against you," came her dry response, even as she hugged him closer, pressing her sizable assets against his side. "Had I known you were such a pervert, I wouldn't have started dating you."

"Please," Ryu kissed her forehead, "I'm only perverted when it comes to you."

Seeing that her boyfriend would prevent her from getting any further sleep, Mira decided that she might as well get up and get ready for the day. Throwing the covers off her, Mira sat on the edge of the bed. Ryu propped himself up with one arm, admiring Mira's shapely body as she stretched.

"Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?"

The poster girl let out a playful scoff, "Only every time we wake up in the morning." Mira paused as she felt his arms wrap around her waist and rest his chin on her shoulder.

"Good," he gave her gave quick peck on the neck. "Be sure to remind me if I ever fail to do so." He caught her rolling her eyes, "Hey, cut me some slack, I'm a helpless romantic."

"Oh I know," she responded as she made her way to the bathroom. Ryu shook his head as the door closed, having not missed the enticing sway she put into her hips, but sadly he wouldn't be joining her in the shower this morning.

Throwing on a pair of pajama pants to cover his nudity, Ryu headed down to the kitchen to get started on breakfast. Mira told him the other day that she, Lisanna, Natsu and Grey would be accompanying Erza on some sort of mission later. He would have tagged along but with that many of the guilds heavy hitters teamed up, adding himself into the mix would just be overkill.

Since he had just gotten back from a job last night, he was going to use the day to catch up on some training. Because of his defeat at the hands of Aizen, Ryu realized that he was too cocky and now strived to reach the peak in his power. Progress was painfully slow without the constant supply of hollow reishi in the air to absorb, but at least he was growing stronger.

Checking the time he saw that there was about an hour and a half left until they were all supposed to meet up at the train station. Plenty of time to cook a good meal to kick start the day.

* * *

 **Several hours later**

"I can't believe you left Natsu on the train," Mira said with a sigh. She was currently riding shotgun in a magic four wheeler that was chasing after the aforementioned train. Erza was at the wheel, Lisanna was in the back with Happy in her lap and Gray seated beside her. The eldest Strauss sibling turned her attention to the newest guild member that was situated in the seat directly behind herself and Erza.

Lucy was a beautiful young woman with brown eyes and shoulder-length blonde hair, with part of it kept to the side in a small ponytail. She currently wore a cute orange top and blue skirt that did nothing to hide her curvaceous figure. She had a brown belt that held a whip and a bunch of keys.

From what Lisanna had told her, Lucy was a Celestial Spirit Mage. Mira had never encountered one before and was looking forward to seeing what the blonde beauty could do.

"I can see the train," Lucy said as she pointed to the train that was just ahead of them. They should be right up beside it in just a few-

The party watched as a figure came crashing out of one of the windows. From the pink hair and scarf, they all immediately knew that it was the dragonslayer that they had left behind. The pinkette bounced off the roof of the vehicle before crashing and rolling on the ground behind them.

Erze swerved to a stop, letting them all jump out to check on their guildmate.

"Are you okay," Lisanna asked, helping her boyfriend up to his feet.

"Just peachy," was Natsu's response as he tried to work out the kink in his neck. "How could you guys leave me on that death machine!?"

Happy raised a paw, "You were so quiet that we all forgot that you were even there."

"That's because Erza frigging knocked me out!"

"Anyway," Gray cut in before Natsu could throttle the guild's little blue mascot. "Why exactly did you jump out the window?"

Natsu crossed his arms defensively, "Some guy sat across from me and started being a total jackass. Said some suggestive things about the women in our guild, mentioned something called Eizenwald and started attacking me." He stomped his foot in frustration, "I wanted to send his head spinning, but like hell I'm gonna fight someone on a damn train!"

For several seconds all was silent as they all took time to register his words. Erza's hand slowly curled into a fist, shaking with barely concealed rage. Everyone but Natsu takes note of this and wisely back away.

"Huh? Why the heck are you gu-"

"You idiot!" The dragon slayer didn't have any time to react as Erza's armored fist embedded itself into his face. The poor man was sent hurtling dozens of feet across the ground before coming to a stop when he finally hit a boulder.

He didn't stay down long as the armored redhead lifted him by his jacket and started to violently shake him, "That man's a part of the guild we're going after!"

"Ummm shouldn't we be stopping this?" Lucy asked as they all just watched the redhead go to town on Natsu. "Cause that train's getting farther and farther away." Lisanna and Gray shared a look and turned to Mirajane, only to sweatdrop as the only other S-class mage casually looked over her nails.

Mira eventually took note of their gaze and let out a sigh before heading over to stop her friend/rival from killing her sister's boyfriend.

* * *

Within the train station of Oshibana Town, it looked like a slaughter had taken place. Several of the station's guards were in various states of injury, ranging from cuts, bruises, broken bones and even missing limbs. Situated in the center of all the carnage is a large group of thuggish looking men.

Seated on the roof of one of the unmoving trains was a man with white hair, a body covered with tattoos and a giant scythe. He seemed to be irritated if the frown on his face was anything to go by.

"What the hell is taking Kageyama so long!?" The man growled as he watched the entrance for any signs of his subordinate.

One of the guild members, a plump, green-haired man spoke up. "I'm sure he's on his way Erigor. Maybe he ran into some trouble."

The leader of the group stood up and stabbed his scythe into the train's roof in frustration. They should've stuck with the original plan of meeting up on the train, but no, he had to listen to the others and change the meeting place to the station. Now they were stuck waiting in this damn place. To make matters even worse the stench of the bodies was starting to fill the room.

"I think I hear someone!" called out one of the members. Erigor focused on his hearing and could indeed hear the sound of approaching footsteps.

"God damn it Kageyama," he cursed as he ripped his weapon free, "What took you so-" He stopped as he finally saw who it was. Instead of his pineapple-haired guildmate, it was a man in a brown suit casually strolling towards them.

The man paid no mind to any of them until he was only a few meters away. "My my," he spoke as he took in his surrounding, "You all sure made of mess of this place. And here I was hoping to catch a train to clovertown." He glanced up at Erigor who couldn't help but shiver at the man's disturbingly calm smile. "But I guess I could take some time to deal with you all."

Erigor shoved down the slight fear this man instilled in him as he observed the stranger. It was only a few seconds later before that fear came crawling back up as he figured out who the man before them was.

"Brown suit and hat, silver hair and a mocking smile." Erigor brought up his weapon in a defensive stance. "The hell is Gin Ichimaru doing here!" At the mention of his name, the effects were instantaneous. Every member of the dark guild took several steps back out of fear.

The man before them was famous among the common people, but for wizards like themselves, he was infamous. Things were perfect a few years ago, the council and Rune Knights were nice and lazy, but then this man showed up out of the blue and fucked up their perfect world.

Now dark guilds across the country were disappearing left and right, all thanks to the rising star before them.

"Ah good, you know of me," Gin gave them a mock applause, "then that should make what happens next all the easier. You have two options before you. The first is that you surrender here and now, where you'll receive a fair trial and face imprisonment. Or you can choose to resist and face your executioner."

"What did you do with Kageyama," Erigor questioned as he prepared a wind spell behind his back.

Gin's head tilted in confusion before he snapped his fingers, "So that was his name." He reached into his jacket and withdrew the cursed flute, twirling it between his fingers as the dark guild tensed up. "I ran into him on my way here. But don't worry, he's been taken care of."

Erigor had heard enough and brought his hand forward, revealing the magic circle that he had been charging. Grabbing his scythe he transferred the energy into its blade then swung it in a wide arc.

"WIND'S EDGE!"

A large crescent blade of wind shot from the scythe, closing the distance between it and Gin in seconds. While the attack was nearly instantaneous for everyone watching, to the former Captain it may as well have been crawling towards him at a snail's pace.

Without batting an eye Gin drew his zanpakuto and slashed right before the wind struck him, causing it to dissipate harmlessly. Erigor froze at the sight of his spell being swatted aside like it was nothing more than a warm summer breeze. He knew just how dangerous this man was and had put everything he had into that attack.

"Talk about a cheap knockoff," Gin spoke as he thought about how similar the attack looked to Ichigo Kurosaki's signature attack. "I guess it's my turn now." He slid one foot back and bent down to the side, his blade poised for a thrust.

While Erigor couldn't even begin to understand why the Rune Knight took that stance with such a short blade, he did know that it wouldn't be good for them if he was allowed to finish his preparations.

"ATTACK HIM YOU FOOLS!"

The guild members that had been scared stiff so far were finally shaken from their stupor. With a battle cry, dozens of wizards charged against one man.

"Shoot to kill."

Their recklessness would prove to be their undoing, "Shinso!"

* * *

"Ma'am for the last time, I can't let you go in," spoke the man tasked with guarding the entrance to the train station.

"Look, we're mages from Fairy Tail and we're here to help," Erza explained as she tried to convince the guard to let them pass. They had arrived a few moments ago to find that a crowd alreading surrounding the station entrance.

After working their way to the front, courtesy of Mira and Erza scaring the shit out of anyone dumb enough to get in their way, they found themselves unable to move forward do to the man in front of them.

He was dressed in mostly dark colored clothes consisting of a brown vest over a white dress shirt. His pants were grey and tucked into brown leather boots. Over it all he wore a grey duster coat. His hands and forearms were covered by a pair of black gauntlets.

He seemed to be in his mid to late twenties with spiky, ash colored hair, a neatly trimmed beard, and dark brown eyes. Well, eye anyway, as his left one was covered by an eyepatch. The last notable feature about him would have to be the faint, cross-like scar that ran down his right eye and across the bridge of his nose.

"I don't care if you're the guildmaster," the man said with a hint of annoyance creeping into his voice, "Until my superior officer says otherwise, no one may enter."

"Screw that noise," shouted Natsu as he tried to shoulder passed the man, the key word being 'tried'. Just as he passed the man, the Dragonslayer seemed to smack face first into an invisible wall. A little wave could be seen from the point of impact that moved outward, revealing that a barrier had the entire station completely sealed off.

"As I just said," reaching out a hand, the man grabbed Natsu by his scarf and threw him back to the group with minimal effort. "None may enter. Besides the commander should be finishing up shortly."

"Wait, hold on a sec. There's only a single person confronting an entire guild?" Lucy questioned. The man opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when what sounded like footsteps.

With a flick of his wrist a serrated trench knife appeared in his hand as he turned to see who it was. When he saw that it was the commander, the tension disappeared along with the knife and folded his arms behind his back.

"Commander," the man said, standing at attention.

"No need to be so serious Mo," Gin chided as he approached the group.

"With all due respect sir," the now named Mo responded, "One of us has to be."

Gin shrugged and messed with his hat, stepping through the barrier had put it out of place, "Any problems on this end?"

Mo spared a glance at the Fairy Tail mages before giving his commander a shrug, "Just annoyances. What about Eizenwald?"

"The threat has been deal with," Gin answered with a slight frown, "Contact HQ and have them dispatch medical personnel along a containment group. I want you to stay here and keep up the barrier until they arrive. No one gets in or out."

Mo nodded, his orders clear. "What shall you be doing sir?"

"I'll resume making my way to Clover Town," Gin started as he began walking away. "Afterwards… we'll I'm long overdue for a day off."

Mo allowed his serious look to slip for a moment as he shook his head at his commanders lackluster attitude.

Meanwhile as all of this was going on, Erza and the others had been watching silently from the sidelines.

"Soooo," Gray began as he watched the apparent commander walk away, "I guess we came all the way out here for no reason."

Natsu kicked the ground in disappointment, "Ah man. I really wanted to punch some guy's lights out too."

Mira looked over to Erza, who was still looking at the retreating form of the commander guy. "What's with you?"

"That man said he was heading towards clover town," She said as she began walking to catch up to the man. "That's where the guild masters meeting takes place."

Gin was once more humming a tune as he got ready to use shunpo. He wanted to get this over with and take the rest of the day to ponder what he would do with his day off.

"Excuse me!"

He stopped just as he was about to disappear and turned around. Gin was not too surprised to see that it was one of the Fairy Tail members that had called out. "Yes, can I help you?"

"I overheard you say that you were going to Clover Town." Erza came to a stop beside him, having to look up slightly to meet his eyes. Or tried to anyway as his were almost always closed. "Why do you have to go there?"

"My my," Gin gave her his trademark smile, "First you eavesdrop on mine and my subordinate's conversation and now demand to know what I'm doing. You're quite nosy, Ms. Scarlet."

Erza narrowed her eyes and frowned, "How do you-"

"You shouldn't be too surprised that I know who you are," Gin spoke, "you and everyone else in your little group are quite famous after all." He looked to the others that had just caught up. His smile turned into a frown though when he saw someone he didn't recognize. "I can't say I know you."

Lucy rubbed her head in embarrassment, "I'm Lucy, I just joined a few days ago."

"Ah that explains it," Gin said with a snap of his fingers. "Well to answer your question Erza, I'm on my way to the guild masters meeting to inform them all that I just stopped an assassination attempt on all of their lives."

The carefree way he relayed this information served to unnerve the Fairies.

"If that's the case," Gin turned to Lisanna who had been the one to speak, "Would it be too much trouble to ask if we tag along? We have a vehicle so we could give you a ride. It beats walking all the way there."

"Also I want to fight you!" Natsu shouted with a look of excitement, making them all sweatdrop.

Gin felt the corner of his mouth twitch just a bit at the pinkettes declaration. They were just as Ryu described them to be. "Well," the former shinigami gave a very lazy wave, "I don't see why not."

"Umm, question." They all looked down to see Happy with a single paw in the air, "Where is everyone going to sit?"

* * *

They ended up figuring out a seating arrangement. Erza was the one driving and Gin was the guest, so their seats were guaranteed. No one was dumb enough to try and take Mirajane's spot, so she was safe. Happy argued that he was a cat and therefore should be given a seat and, for reasons that Gin couldn't understand, everyone rolled with it.

Gin then pointed out that the ladies should be given seats as well, so Lisanna and Lucy were in. That left Natsu and Gray hanging high and dry when it came to seats. With no spots left, the fire and ice duo sat on the roof of the vehicle.

From there it was nothing but smooth sailing as they rode to Clover town. Sure it would've been faster if Gin had just gone by himself using Shunpo, but then he wouldn't have the company of so many beautiful ladies.

"Couldn't the two of them have just sat on either side of her?" Gin whispered to Erza as he gestured to the empty spaces one either side of Mira.

"They're afraid of her," she said bluntly, causing him to raise a brow.

"So," Mira spoke up from behind them, "I know this is a bit late and all, but we never got your name."

Gin would've blink if his eyes weren't already closed, "Huh, I guess I never did introduce myself." He tipped his hat to them, "The name's Gin Ichimaru, Executive Commander of the Rune Knights."

The vehicle swerved slightly as Erza turned toward him in shock.

"Hey watch where you're driving!" shouted Gray as he and Natsu's peeked down from the roof, "You almost threw us off!" The pinkette would've complained as well if it weren't for the fact that he was currently holding in his lunch.

"You're a Rune Knight," Lisanna asked.

Lucy held her chin, "Suddenly that Mo guy calling him commander makes sense."

"Wait what!?" Natsu cried as he look at Gin, "But you took out all of those dark guild assholes!"

"And?"

"Well Rune Knights suck at fighting."

The other tensed slightly, thinking that Gin would have some choice words for their friend, but to their surprise Gin didn't seem offended at all by Natsu's statement, "Oh almost the entirety of the Rune Knights are worthless, but I'm slowly changing that."

He perked up as their destination was beginning to come into view. As they came closer Gin felt that of all the magic signatures he was feeling, the strongest of them seemed to be a ways away from the meeting hall. Given that Makarov was one of the ten wizard saints, it was a safe bet that the lone one was him.

"I sense a strong magic presence coming from over there. I'm guessing that it's your master," Gin spoke as he relayed the information to the others. Stopping at the treeline the group exited the vehicle and followed Gin to a clearing. At the center was their Guildmaster, seated on a tree stump and...was he giggling?

"Hehehehe, the women are getting sexier and sexier," Makarov giggled perversely as he looked through the newest issue of sorcerer weekly, specifically the modeling section.

"Master!"

"Gah!" The aged guildmaster jumped as the unexpected guest made themselves known. Quickly hiding the magazine behind his back, he composed himself before turning to them. "Huh, what are you brats doing here?"

Erza was quick to inform him of everything that had transpired since the beginning of that day. By the time she finished, it was already getting dark out as the sun began to go down.

"Hmm," Makarov rubbed his chin, "To think a dark guild would go to these extents. This is disturbing news indeed." He spared a look towards Gin, who had been silently observing them with his never changing smile. "What is to become of those that were caught?"

Gin shrugged his shoulders, "Most will face imprisonment, but many are wanted for multiple murders. They will face trial and are most likely to be executed."

"Hmmm." Makarov allowed the information to sink in, "If that is what the justice system decides, then so be it. Regardless, a lot of people owe you their lives. Not just me and my fellow guildmaster, but all those that would've been caught in the flutes range."

The Rune Knight waved his hand in a lazy manner. "I just happened to be in the right place at the right time."

"Quick question," Lucy raised her hand, "Where's the flute anyway?" She watched as Gin rummaged around in his coat for a moment before retrieving the flute from within its depths. "What are you going to do with it?"

"Well the Council would want me to hand it over to them so that they can safeguard it," He said as he casually tossed it back and forth between his hands, "But I'm gonna save us a lot of trouble and just destroy it."

" **Destroy me!"**

Everyone's eyes, Gin included, widened as an unknown voice permeated throughout the air.

" **You think a pathetic being like you can destroy me!"** Their attention turned to the flute as it shot out of Gin's hand and into the air. In a brilliant flash of purple light, the flute transformed into a enormous tree-like demon, its three red eyes glaring down at them. " **I'll consume your souls for su-"**

Lullaby is interrupted by a fireball exploding against its face. The Fairies turned towards Natsu with an exasperated look.

"What? That wasn't me."

"So you're a monster that likes to consume souls," As Gin spoke, the smoke from the kido still hanging around his hand. He took calm steps forward, putting himself between Lullaby and the others. "Then this will be just like home."

Erza and Mira made to go stand with him, but a raised hand from Makarov kept them at bay. He and the rest watched with anticipation as Gin reached into his coat, only to be put off when he withdrew an incredibly short sword that was barely the length of the man forearm.

"What's he plan to do with that?" Natsu whispered not so quietly to the others. "That thing's tiny."

"I wonder if by killing you," Gin spoke as he calmly poised his blade at the center of his chest, "that if I will free all the souls you've eaten."

" **It doesn't matter,"** Lullaby said as it reared back one of its enormous fists, " **I'll be adding yours to my collection soon enough!"** Its fist fell, but not in the way everyone was expecting.

There was a quick flicker of movement, and Lullaby's arm was sliced clean off from its body. The demon roared in agony as it grasped at the stump that used to be its limb.

"W-what just happened?" Gray asked in alarm as his eyes hadn't been able to track anything. It was just too fast for him to process. It wasn't just him either as everyone had trouble understanding what just went down. That is, everyone but Makarov and the two S-class mages. The aged guild master had a little trouble tracking Gin's attack, but the speed was something he had only seen in incredibly powerful mages.

Mira and Erza on the other hand had barely been able to keep track, having only caught the glint of the blade.

"His sword extended," her voice was barely a whisper, but the others had no trouble hearing Mira's words. She stared at the back of Gin's head, trying to process what she just saw. The only other person she had seen attack with such speed was Ryu when they sparred. 'Just who is this guy?'

" **Y-Y-YOU BASTARD!"** As Lullaby roared in anger, a magic circle appeared in front of its mouth. As it went to fire the beam, Gin appeared in the air before it, poised for a thrust.

"Bye-bye," he said cheerfully as his blade shot forward. Lullaby didn't have time to process what happened before a hole appeared in the center of its head. Not quite finished, Gin swiped his blade downwards, splitting the demon clean in two.

Landing before the dumbstruck Fairies, Gin stashed his Zanpakuto back into his coat and smiled as the giant corpse fell with a thunderous thud and disintegrated behind him. "So now that that's over and done with, mind if I talk with you in private?" he asked Makarov.

The Guild master finally snapped out of his stupor and looked at the Rune Knight curiously. What could he possibly want to speak with him about?

 **-END-**


	9. Chapter 9

**Zrocker119:** **No AN this time...enjoy.**

 **-Start-**

"Ah man, it's good to be back home and off of the damn thing!" Natsu shouted with his fists raised to the sky as he and the rest of the party disembarked from the train.

With everything that had gone down the night before the train stations had been shutdown to make sure that no dark wizard had escaped, they had been forced to stay the night at a local hotel that had been near the meeting place.

Lucy rubbed the back of her head and sighed in content, "I'm just glad that nothing too bad happened."

"I wouldn't say that," everyone turned to see that Gin was the one that spoke, his lips forming a small frown. He thought about the families of the guards that had lost their live from the attack on the station. He already decided that he would be the one to make that calls and break the bad news. Those were calls that he wasn't looking forward to, but as soon as they had all of the names, he'd be making them.

Noticing the attention he was getting he put on his normal grin and just waved his hand, "Oh don't mind me. Just thinking about all of the paperwork I'm gonna have to do once I get back to HQ."

"Speaking of which," Mira said with crossed arms, "what are you even doing here? Are you following us."

Gin cocked his head, "Weren't you listening yesterday? I said to Mo," he ignored the snickering coming from Natsu, "that I'm long overdue for a vacation."

"And you came with us here, why exactly?" Erza questioned with a raised brow.

Gin strolled forward with his hands in his pockets, "I have a friend that lives nearby, figured that I would pay them a visit."

"Then why are you heading towards our guild?"

"Well the answer to that question should be obvious," placing a hand on top of his hat, Gin sent them a teasing smile. "Cause they're a member."

Everyone came to a grinding halt while Gin kept on walking without a care in the world.

"EHHHH!"

Makarov was the first to snap out of his shock and ran to catch up with the much taller man. "Is this person the reason why…" he trailed off as he didn't want the youngsters to over hear what the two had discussed in private just a few hours prior.

"I won't lie and say that my friendship with them isn't a big part of the reason," Gin admitted truthfully, "But like I told the council, your guild isn't full of bad people. Just a bunch that happen to cause a lot of havoc wherever they go."

The guild master groaned, "Believe me, I'm more than aware. I've lost more than a few hairs over the amount of paperwork I've had to do because of them." Gin bent down and gave him a comforting pat on the back.

"Now hold up!" Gin shot back up as Mira ran in front of him, blocking his path. "Just who exactly is this 'friend' of yours?" she asked with fists planted firmly on her hips.

She received a shake of the finger as a response. "Now that would be spoiling the fun of a good mystery." He calmly walked around her and continued on his way, completely missing the Take Over mage who had begun to shake with barely controlled rage.

She was about to snap when the silver-haired man grabbed his chin. "I...guess it wouldn't hurt to give you all a hint." He turned to see them all leaning forward as they waited for him to continue.

.

.

.

"You know them pretty well."

And promptly fell flat on their faces.

"What kind of bullshit hint is that!?" Gray yelled, not even noticing that he was stripping away his clothes.

"I never claimed that it would be a good hint." He pointed at the ice mage who was now clad in only a pair of boxers, "also, your clothes are gone. Better find them quickly before I arrest you for public indecency."

Gray looked down and sure enough his close had yet again disappeared from his person, "Shit!"

* * *

Once Gray had managed to find his missing articles of clothing, the group continued on their way, constantly pestering Gin for more information on his secret friend. While he respected their determination, he refused to divulge any more than what had already been spoken.

As they approached Natsu rushed to the front and kicked the door open, "We're back!" the pinkette announced, completely oblivious to the fact that one of the doors was now ajar and hanging on by a single hinge.

"Damn it Natsu!" one of the members, Max, shouted as he shot the Salamander an exasperated look. "We just fixed the place up from yours and Gray's last brawl."

"I'm not fixing it this time," chimed Macao and Wakaba, each with a hand raised.

Seated at a nearby table, Levy giggled as the three of them began arguing over who's turn it was. "So how did the mission go?"

Mira took a seat next to her, resting her head on her crossed arms. "Turns out that we weren't needed at all," she said with a small glare directed at Gin, who seemed completely unaffected and continued to smile.

Now that he was in the building, Gin noticed just how empty the place currently was. "Funny, after all of the stories I've heard about this place, I thought it would be rowdier."

"Oh, this is nothing," spoke a voice from behind. Turning around Gin saw Ryu standing in the doorway alongside a scantily clad brunette, both holding bags full of groceries.

"Should've been here a few days ago, heard the place got really messed up as a result of Gray and Natsu butting heads," Ryu said as he set the bags on the counter. He then took a seat next to Mira, who, without even opening her eyes, moved to rest her head on his shoulder.

Ignoring Gin's raised brow and knowing smirk, Ryu turned to the others, who by this point had all sat down around the table. "So how was the missi-"

"Better question," Cana interrupted. Taking a swig from a bottle of liquor she had swiped from the bar, she eyed up the stranger among them. A moment passed before she sent him a drunken smirk, "Who's tall, thin and handsome?"

Had his eyes been open, Gin would've blinked owlishly at the woman's blunt assessment of him.

"Right," Erza cleared her throat and gestures to Gin, "Everyone this is-"

"How have you been Gin," Ryu suddenly asked.

"Eh," Gin made the 'so-so' motion, "Been somewhat busy. Paperwork, meetings, stopping terrorist attacks. You know, the usual stuff."

Ryu hummed in understanding and nodded, "Sounds like fun."

.

.

.

"Wait a minute." Mira stopped leaning on her boyfriend and slowly turned to look at him. "You already know him?"

"Yeah."

The members closest to the couple ever so slightly scooted away from them.

"...For how long exactly?"

"Well we met when I joined the same organization as him, so I'd say," Ryu thought for a moment before shrugging, "about four, four and a half years."

"I see," Mirajane closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. "So you've been friends with a Rune Knight Commander and decided not to tell any of us?"

The response she got took on the form of a nonchalant shrug, "Didn't think it was that important. You know how uncaring I am when it comes to rank and authority."

Everyone watched in anticipation and wondered how the demoness would respond. So imagine their surprise when all she did was shrug.

"Fair enough."

Even Ryu blinked in surprise at the bland response.

"Really," he questioned not completely trusting how reasonable his girlfriend was being at the moment.

"What?" Mirajane shot him an irritated look which she then sent to everyone else at the table, "were you all expecting me to make a big deal out of this?"

"Yes!" was the collective response which caused her eye to twitch in annoyance.

"Anyway," Mira growled and looked towards Natsu, "Didn't you and Tin plate over there make some sort deal before we left the other morning?"

The fire mage shot up from his seat, an excited grin stretching across his face. "That's right! Erza," he pointed at said redhead, "you promised me a fight when we got back."

* * *

The members that were present for Natsu's declaration now all found themselves out in the streets just in front of the guildhall, forming a large circle around the two combatants. Cana had set up a betting pool with everyone placing their bets. Despite not being a member, Gin also placed a bet on the fight, 10,000 jewels in Erza's favor.

The fight soon got underway with Natsu opening up with his trademark fire attack, while Erza opted to go for a more defensive approach and immediately requipped into her flame empress armor, cutting the effectiveness of all Natsu's attacks in half.

"Wow," Lucy exclaimed as the two proceeded to try and pummel the other into the dirt, "they're really going at it."

"Naw," Ryu tilted his head slightly as a stray blast of fire barely missed him, "they're just getting started." He turned to look at the blonde and realized that he had no idea who she was. "I'm sorry, but we've never met. I'm R-"

"You're Ryu Sato," Lucy cut him off with a squeal of excitement. "You got second place for sexiest male model and first for most mysterious wizard!" She then pulled out a pen and a copy of sorcerer weekly out of seemingly nowhere and held both up to him. "Can I have your autograph?"

"...Sure, why not." Ryu took the pen and magazine, noticed that Mira's name was also there, and signed the space right below it. He also took note that it was the issue that he made his debut appearance in the modeling community. "Still never got your name."

"Hehe," she scratched her head clearly embarrassed about the outburst, "Sorry about that, my name's Lucy. I'm just a really big fan of you and Mirajane."

Ryu waved away her concerns, "No harm was done, so there's no need to apologize. So how'd you end up joining the guild."

"Well," Lucy glaced in the direction of the fight, "I ran into Lisanna, Natsu and Happy while they were searching for his father."

Ryu gave Lucy his full attention as she went on to explain her little scuffle with a group a kidnappers and how the Fairy Tail mages ended up rescuing her.

While that was going on, Mira watched their little exchange from across the makeshift ring.

"I wouldn't worry too much," she glanced to the right to see Gin standing beside her. "About him seeing other women I mean."

"I wasn't even considering the idea of Ryu doing something like that," Mira said as she went back to watching the fight. "Just surprised to see blondie being so open. I've only talked to her once and that was when she wanted my autograph, and she was really skittish about it."

Gin nodded, "I could see why she would." Seeing her raise a brow he continued, "You and Ryu are both strong, but unlike him you're very open about it."

Mirajane crossed her arms at that statement. "You've known me for what? Not even two days? How could you possibly know that?"

Gin just smiled and said, "By the way you stand. You project an image of confidence and strength. While these aren't bad traits, unless people know you personally, they tend to make it hard for new people to come up and talk with you."

He gestured to Ryu, who now appeared to be telling Lucy a funny story of sorts. Evident by the blonde laughing. "He's a total contrast to you. Despite his strength and the reputation of a fierce fighter it has garnered him, Ryu's laid back attitude makes him very approachable and easy to talk with."

Mira looked toward her boyfriend. The more the thought about what was just pointed out to her, the more she realized how true Gin's words were. She had been with the guild for just over six years now, and to this day more than a few members were afraid of approaching her.

And then there was Ryu. Someone powerful enough to make people pass out and potentially die just from being near him, had only been a member for little over a year, and no one hesitated to go and have a drink with him.

It was kind of depressing when she thought about it.

"Mirajane?"

Shaking herself free from those thoughts she turned back to Gin. "Please, just call me Mira. You're a friend of Ryu's after all."

"Ok then, Mira," Gin's smiled as he looked down at her. "Just how much has Ryu told you about himself?"

The whitette frowned slightly at the question. "Not much. Just that he used to be apart of some organization and was in a war. A few things about how powerful he was compared to others...that's about it really."

"I see," Gin looked back to said redhead, his smile dropping slightly. "Can you do me a favor?

"Depends on what exactly that favor entails," was Mira's answer as she narrowed her gaze at him. What he said next caused her eyes to widen.

"We may not look like it, but both Ryu and myself are still adjusting to this country and its relative peace. We both had to do things that we aren't proud of to survive." The secret Shinigami turned to look at Mira, letting her see his genuine smile. "It may take some time, but he will eventually come clean about himself. So until that time comes...please...be patient with him?"

Mirajane felt her mouth open slightly, caught off guard the mans simple question. "You really care about him, don't you?"

"Oh, not in the same way you do. So you don't have to worry about that." Gin joked, managing to bring a smile to her lips. "But as one of the few friends Ryu had back home, the answer to your question is yes."

"Then you've got nothing to worry about." The two shared a smile and turned back to watch the fight and just in time to see Erza land a devastating punch to Natsu's face. The Dragonslayer soared over the crowd and crashed through the guild's doors, rendering them a heaping pile of splinters.

"Damn it Erza! And you yell at Natsu and Gray for breaking the place."

Everyone present was then treated to the rare sight of the legendary Titania getting scolded by Ryu. Mira allowed herself to wallow in the fact that her rival was being talked down to like she was a child, while Gin just shook his head at the guild's antics.

Onto a more important note, looks like he was walking away from this with some extra cash in his pocket. With that in mind, Gin made his way over to the brunette that had started the betting pool to collect his winnings.

 **-End-**


	10. Chapter 10

**Zrocker119:** **As of now, this story has over 100 followers and nearly as many favorites! Words can't describe how happy I am about that.**

 **A Hollow's Fairy Tail**

 **-Start-**

The sounds of battle could be heard as steel clashed against steel. What was once a simple grassland had been reduced to a barren flatland riddled with craters. Two figures could be seen soaring through the sky, nearing each other. Once they met, a visible concussive wave could been seen emanating from the point where their blades clashed.

Ryu smiled something fierce as he locked blades with Gin as it had been far too long since he had a real fight. Breaking the stalemate Ryu slashed at his friend's waist, only for it to be parried to the side at the last second.

Gin leapt back several meters and retaliated with a flurry of thrusts, his blade extending to easily cover the distance. Ryu casually kicked, backhanded and parried every thrust that came his way. Unbeknownst to him though, all of these attacks were a simple distraction.

The displacement of air was the only warning Ryu had before a scaled fist connected with his cheek.

"Don't go forgetting about me," Mira smiled sweetly, but the sight of her take over and the sound of her knuckles cracking ruined the image.

"Nice hit," Ryu commented as the bruise from her surprise attack healed, "you've come a long way from back when we first started sparring." Around a year ago, it would've been her knuckles that bruised instead of his cheek. And now, even though it was a marginal amount, she did damage with each attack. Her rate of growth was astounding.

Mira responded with a flurry of attacks that would've left most opponents back peddling in an effort to avoid. But with Ryu being who he was, he decided to go at it blow for blow, sheathing his blade and locking with her in unarmed combat. The pair disappeared from sight, only to reappear several meters away and trade hits, leaving only echos in their wake.

The next time the duo were once more visible their hands were locked together in a stalemate. Wanting to test Mira's limits, Ryu slowly began to force her hands back, only for his eyes to widen at the sight of lightning dancing along her arms.

"A shi-ACH," his muscles clenched as the unknown number of volts coursed through his body.

While Ryu was busy being electrocuted, Gin had already sheathed his sword and began to chant. "Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man!"

Back to the sparring couple, Ryu focused his spiritual energy into the palms of his hands, creating a shoddy shield of energy, but did its job at halting Mira's lightning. With a shout, he laced his fingers between hers, spun and threw her back to the ground at frightening speeds.

Before she connected with the unforgiving ground, Mira managed to spread her wings and slow her rapid plummet into a controlled fall. By the time she landed beside Gin, a familiar spiral of energy had already begun to take shape between her hands.

"On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus. In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens." As Mira's attack finished forming, Gin had just finished wrapping up his chant.

With a startling amount of synchronization, the Rune Knight and Mage thrust their hands forward and called out their attacks.

"Evil Explosion/Hado #73 Soren Sokatsui!"

The sky lit up black, blue, white and purple as the attacks closed in on their target. Ryu barely had time to curse before the combo attack hit him dead on, creating an absolutely massive explosion. Gin and Mirajane turned and shielded their eyes as the shock wave reached them, whipping their hair and clothes about.

When the wind died down the two turned back and were greeted by the sight of the whole area now free of any sort of plant life for hundreds of meters in every direction, the land now permanently scared by the potency of their combined attack.

"Do you think we went a little overboard?" Mira asked as she let her take over fade away, now breathing heavily from the large drain on her magic reserves.

"Nah, I've seen him tank worse attacks before," Gin started with a casual wave, not winded in the slightest. Granted the last time he had seen Ryu take an attack of that scale, he had been in his resurreccion, but he chose to keep that little tidbit to himself.

A few more moments pass before the cloud of smoke finally dissipated, allowing them to see Ryu still up and kicking, though Mira grimaced at her boyfriends state or more specifically the state of his arms.

He had managed to get his arms crossed at the last second, letting the hierro of his limbs absorb most of the damage, at the cost of his arms now being charred black. Ryu lowered his arms, hissing as the skin split and began to bleed.

Rather than repair the rock hard skin, Ryu channeled more Reiryoku than usual into the charred limbs and suddenly discharging it, the layers that had been fried seemed to exploded off, freeing space for completely new skin to grow.

"Given the state that little stunt left me in," Ryu spoke as he gently landed before the two, "I'm gonna consider that your win."

Mira waited for the skin on his arms to finish healing before taking his hand into her own, marveling at how fast his wounds had healed. "I'm still not used to seeing you do that."

Ryu smirked as he recalled the memory of her seeing his regeneration in action for the first time. He had been gone on a job for a few weeks and the two had sparred upon his return. He had underestimated how much progress she had made during his time away and had tried to catch a punch she had focused nearly all of her magical energy into.

Long story short his hand had exploded when she expelled said energy, reducing it to a bloody stump and freaking her the hell out. Once he managed to calm her down, Mira had nearly fainted from shock as his regeneration began the process of regrowing the bones, veins, muscles and finally skin. He had actually been the one to apologize for underestimating her power. Mira had still felt bad about the whole thing though, and that night, Ryu was treated to the best apology sex he would ever receive.

"Hopefully," Ryu laced his fingers with hers, "you won't have to see me recover from anything worse." He pulled her close and sealed her lips with his own.

From off to the side, Gin just shook his head slightly at the kissing couple. Having been hanging around the guild and Ryu's place for the last week or so, he had long grown use to the sight of their displays of affection.

"If you two are quite done," he tapped his wrist, "I've got a train to catch."

Ryu rolled his eyes. Hugging Mira to his waist, they headed in the direction towards town. "Please, if you really wanted to we could get there in seconds."

"True," Gin admitted, walking beside them with hands in pockets, "But I like to enjoy the walk there."

"You gonna want to stop by the guild and say goodbye?" questioned Mira. After the shock of his position had worn off, Gin had managed to hit it off with pretty much everyone in the guild.

Gin shook his head at the question, "I get the feeling that I'll be back sooner than I think, so I won't bother with saying goodbye."

"You're still sore about your lost to Cana the other day, aren't you?"

Gin refused to rise to the redhead's obvious taunt. Please, as if he, a former captain, would be sore about losing a friendly drinking contest with the guild's heaviest drinker. Ha, fat chance of that! Nope, not sore at all.

.

.

.

Okay, maybe just a little.

* * *

As the duo finally arrived at the guild after seeing Gin off, Ryu felt a multitude of emotions rush through him. Shock, confusion, disbelief and finally rage. All of this was due to the sight that greeted him.

It was normal to see the guild in various states of disarray, but it always stayed within the confines of the guilds walls. Very rarely did it ever find its way to the outside. That's why seeing the place he had come to view as a second home with several large pillars of metal punctured through the walls and roof nearly drove him into a fit of rage.

"Who the fuck did this to our guild," very few things truly pissed Ryu off, but coming into his home, his territory, and desecrating it was a rather strong trigger of his.

He felt Mira slip her hand into his and give it a firm squeeze. At first he thought it was to calm him down, but quickly realized that the action was for her about as much as it was for him if her trembling hand was anything to go on.

The couple took a moment to reel in their emotions before they walked inside where they found several members trying to clean the place up.

Spying Droy amongst the group Ryu approached him and asked, "Where's the master?"

"Downstairs having a drink," was Droy's quick response as he resumed sweeping.

Shooting him a quick thanks the duo headed down to the basement, finding it transformed into a temporary work and dining hall. Makarov could be found seated on a stool near the back of the room, beer in hand. In the seat beside him was Erza, who had her eyes closed and arms crossed.

"Ah, here are the two love birds." From the redness of his cheeks, it was painfully obvious that the short guildmaster was thoroughly drunk. "You seen what happened upstairs? Quite something ain't it?"

"Who did it?" Ryu wasted no time trying to figure out who was responsible.

"Oh, it was just those punks from Phantom Lord," Makarov shouted, gesturing with his drink. "Those cowards didn't even have the balls to do it while someone was here!"

"Where are they?"

That earned him a wag of master's finger in his face. "(Hic)No no," Makarov scolded, "You ain't going to do anything."

"AND WHY NOT!?" Everything seemed to stop at his shout, but Ryu didn't care if everyone's eyes were on him, "IF WE SIT HERE AND DO NOTHING, WHAT'S TO STOP THEM FROM DOING SOMETHING WORSE IN THE FUTURE!"

The aged guildmaster seemed to sober up a bit as he pinned the redhead with a look that would cause even the most strongest of fighters to back down, "You will stand down, Ryu."

"I WON'T TAKE THIS LYING DOWN," Ryu glared defiantly back, "NOT WITHOUT RETURNING THE FAVOR!"

"You can and will," Makarov spoke calmly, but there was an edge to his voice that sent a chill down everyone's spine. "If we retaliate, it could lead to a war between the guilds, and should it come to that, then the council will definitely shut us down. Regardless if you're close friends with a high ranking Rune Knight."

Ryu stood shaking in barely restraint rage. His territorial instincts were absolutely screaming at him to seek out the ones responsible for the desecration of his guild, but Makarov's reasoning ended up winning that bout.

"FUCK!" His hand was a blur as the table closest to him was reduced to little more than splinters. Before anything else could be said, Ryu had already disappeared with the following sound of static.

Mira moved to follow him, but was stopped by a metal clad hand holding her by the shoulder. She turned around to see Erza shaking her head. "Just let him go. He'll calm down eventually. Best give him some space until then."

Mira stared back at the space Ryu had been in for a moment longer and sighed. She trusted him not to do anything rash and would stay at the guild for now.

Taking the stool next to her rival, Mira spoke. "I'm surprised that Natsu isn't here right now, trying to do exactly what Ryu just did."

Erza looked at her quizzically before understanding finally dawned on her. "That's right, you guys don't know." At Mira's confused look she started to explain. "The other day, Natsu stole an S-Class request and dragged along Lucy and your sister. Gray volunteered to bring them back, but when they didn't return the master sent Laxus after them."

Mirajane raised a brow. Laxus actually listened to an order from the master. That sounded very out of character for the guild's lightning mage.

"We got a call from Laxus this morning saying that he ended up helping them finish the job and sent them back by themselves, saying that he had another request to get to," Erza finished with crossed arms. "He even let them keep half the reward money and gave the Celestial Gate Key that came with it to Lucy."

"...Okay, who is this man and what has he done with Laxus?" Mira asked in utter disbelief. The Laxus she knew and loathed would never do the things she was just told. "Are we sure that he hasn't been replaced by a doppelganger or something."

"He's really taken a turn for the better this last year, hasn't he," Erza said as she thought back on Laxus's recent interactions with the guild. The malice and anger he always held before had been receding bit by bit. Now he actually held somewhat decent conversations with the other members, and by that she meant he we would say a few words of greeting before continuing on his way.

Still, it was an improvement, no matter how small of one it was.

"Looks like his loss to Ryu really opened his eyes," the guilds only two female S-Class mages nodded in agreement and spent the rest of the morning in a comfortable silence. Though every so often, Mira would steal a glance in the direction of Ryu's home. She could feel the chaotic state of his power on the edge of her senses. She just hoped that he wouldn't hold a grudge against the guildmaster for his decision.

* * *

Ryu sighed for the hundredth something time that day and idly twirled his pencil. Upon returning home he thought about going to his private training grounds, but had settled on picking up his pencil and sketchbook. When that didn't help all that much, he had gone into the kitchen and retrieved several bottles of alcohol. Thankfully a few hours of nothing but drawing and drinking seemed to do the trick as he was now completely calm.

He spared a glance at the dozen or so empty bottles of whisky and wine that he had gone through and groaned as he saw that many of them were ones he had been saving for a special occasion. It looked like he was going to have to go shopping the next chance he got to restock his now drained supplies.

A few minutes later, Ryu had cleaned the place up and had just made a kettle of tea when the door opened. Hearing the familiar clicking of heels, he didn't bother looking to see who it was, until he realized that more footsteps followed after.

Confused as to who else it could be, Ryu took the kettle off and peaked out into the hall. He wasn't surprised to see Mira seeing as she lived here, but following behind her was Cana, Erza, Gray and last but not least Lucy. Blinking a few times to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, Ryu looked to his girlfriend with a raised brow before smirking.

"If you were looking to spice things up in the bedroom, then why did you bring Gray?"

Five minutes later Ryu was sporting new bump on his head while serving tea to everyone who was now gathered in his living room.

"Thank you," said a blushing Lucy as she took a sip of her tea, his remark still fresh in her mind.

"You're welcome." Finished with handing out the drinks, Ryu took his seat beside Mira who was still shooting him a glare. Geeze, a guy makes one joke and he's in the dog house. "Anyway, now that I've gone and made everyone comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time, mind explaining why you're all here?"

"It was Erza's idea," Mira said with a sigh before relaxing into his side, his arm instinctively wrapping around her. "With what happened to the guild last night, she felt it would be best if we all grouped up for the next few days until this all blows over."

"I see," Ryu said as he rubbed her shoulder, "So who went with who?"

Setting her tea down Erza chipped in, "Well Happy, Lisanna and Natsu went to his place. Levy, Jet and Droy obviously stuck together, but seeing how they aren't really combat specialists Elfman decided to go with them. They're all staying at his house. From there everyone just kind of splintered off into their own groups."

The arrancar nodded as he thought about the groupings. They all seemed to be pretty thought out and as much as he loved to fight, he hoped nothing would happen for the next few days.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Cana's whistling. Looking over at her, he saw her going through his drawings.

"Damn Ryu, I didn't know you could draw." She flipped to a page that showed the depictions of the many different hollows he had killed and consumed. "Though these are a bit freaky."

"I'm with Cana on that one," Gray pitched in, now wearing nothing but his boxers. Ryu sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, but didn't bother pointing it out to the serial stripper, knowing he would just wined up in the same state soon enough.

Lucy let out a squeal of excitement and pulled out the signed copy of his book 'Being Hollow'. "Oh my god, how did you get this!?"

Mira shook her head at the wink he sent her, having learned early on in their relationship about Ryu's status as an author. "I know the author. So you've read that one."

The blonde nodded as she thumbed through the pages. "It's one of my favorites, though the ending saddens me every time."

"Keep it." Ryu said without hesitation.

Lucy looked about ready to feint at this point, "A-are you sure? This couldn't have been easy to get. The author hasn't done book signings or anything."

Ryu waved off her concern, "Don't worry about it. I'd prefer someone who enjoys it to own it. Better than it just sitting and collecting dust on my shelf." With another look of encouragement, Lucy finally nodded and accepted the gift.

"Thank you." She smiled, earning her a smirk from the arrancar.

"Ryu," Erza suddenly spoke up, the serious tone in her voice immediately brought down the mood. "If this doesn't blow over, and it does come to war between the guilds...what are our chances of winning?"

Everyone, even the ever easy going Cana, became serious at her question and looked toward Ryu for his answer. It was no secret that the redhead had fought in some sort of large scale battle before joining the guild and had been in a multitude of life and death situations, and from Mira had told them, was one of the most powerful figures in his homeland.

While Ryu hadn't showcased the extent of his powers, they knew that he was the strongest among them, barring the master and Gildarts. The thought of Ryu fighting the latter of the two brought a chill to everyone's spine, barring Lucy as she had yet to learn of the guild's ace.

Removing his arm from Mira's waist, Ryu leaned forward so that his elbows rested on his knees and had his fingers laced together. "Well let's look at the facts. We have stronger mages but they've got number over us. They also have a group of mages known as the Elemental Four that is rumored to consist of nothing but S-Class level mages. Then there's also their ace, the Iron Dragonslayer Gajeel Redfox."

"D-dragonslayer," Lucy said nervously, "You mean they have a mage that's like Natsu?" She had seen first hand the kind of destructive power the pinkette was capable of dishing out and knew it was nothing to scoff at.

"Well not exactly like him," Ryu clarified, "You see Natsu's the Fire Dragonslayer and is capable of consuming fire to regain his magic energy, so long as it isn't his own flame. Being the Iron Dragonslayer, it's likely that Mr. Redfox can do the same, but with iron."

He leaned back in the couch and crossed one leg over the other, "But while he may be strong, the biggest concern is going to be Jose. On top of being a guildmaster, he too holds the title of Wizard Saint and is said to be on par with the old man when it comes to raw power."

"But we have something that they sorely lack," Ryu took a moment to smirk at their confusion before saying one simple word, a dark gleam in his eyes.

"Me."

* * *

Later that night, Mira was wide awake as she lied naked beside her partner in their bed, their coupling from before had barely helped her restlessness. She rolled over so that she was left facing Ryu, who was sound asleep.

She brought a hand to his cheek, her thumb stroking the mask that was ever present. While most no doubt found the skull-like mask frightening and a major turnoff, the porcelain-like texture always felt pleasant to her touch. It was a physical representation of his power and he wore it with pride.

While she stroked the mask, her thoughts lingered back to what he said earlier. Mira was more than aware of how powerful her lover was, having seen and experienced it first hand. But even with all of her knowledge, she felt fear in what could possibly happen should he attempt to fight Jose.

Ryu was powerful, but Jose was a Wizard Saint, a title that the council didn't just hand out on a whim. He himself had admitted that their potential foe was just as powerful as the master.

A heavy feeling of dread settled in her stomach at the image of his bruised and beaten form lying lifelessly on the cold hard ground. She quickly pulled herself into his chest and hugged him tightly.

When sleep finally took hold, another feeling of unease made its way up her spine before Mira finally drifted off.

* * *

 **The next morning**

"Get out of the way!"

The townsfolk did well to listen to the redhead's words as Ryu made his way through the crowd that had the park surrounded. Following behind him was everyone that had stayed the night at his place, and they too were followed by the rest of the guild.

"Move!" With a final push, Ryu was able to make it through to the opening in the center. The sight before him caused him to freeze up.

"E-Elfman!" Mirajane cried as she ran to her brother. Said sibling was standing in the center of large splatter of blood that had long since dried up, with multiple lacerations covering the entirety of his body. His eyes were lowered and bloodshot, but he was alive.

"I-I didn't fall." Mira hardly heard him as she tried to get him to lie down. Ryu approached as well, his footsteps slow and with meaning. "I refused to fall."

Looking past the Take Over mage, Ryu saw the unconscious forms of Levy, Jet and Droy lying a few feet behind him. All three were beaten and bruised, but nowhere near to the extent of Elfman.

"Who did it?" Ryu asked as he finally approached, barely reacting as Lisanna ran past him and to her older brother. Wisps of spiritual energy could be seen emanating off his body as he already knew the answer, but he needed to hear it. His knuckles popped audibly as his friend spoke one word.

"Phantom."

Ryu nodded his head solemnly, "Good." With one quick, painless strike to the back of the neck, the arrancar rendered Elfman unconscious and caught him before he could hit the ground. Throwing one of his arms around his neck, Ryu looked toward Mira. Her cheeks were stained with tears, but her eyes were alight with a raging fire.

Hearing the sound of footsteps approaching behind him Ryu spoke, "You know what's gonna happen next."

"I know," Makarov responded as the rest of the guild arrived and began to gather up Levy and the others. "I can forgive them for wrecking our guild hall. Walls and roofs can be easily fixed." The ground beneath him cracked as he spoke through clenched teeth. "I can forgive the harsh words that are thrown our way. BUT A FATHER CAN NOT FORGIVE THE PAIN BROUGHT UPON HIS CHILDREN!"

With a rage that none of them had seen before, Makarov's roar could've been heard from the heavens. "JOSE, YOU WANTED A WAR! YOU'VE GOT IT!"

 **-End-**


	11. Chapter 11

**Zrocker119:** **Sorry for the two month wait everybody. The next one shouldn't take as long. On a side note, this story now has over 100 favorites! Anyway here's chapter 11!**

 **A Hollow's Fairy Tail**

 **-Start-**

Within the halls of the guild Phantom Lord, a party was in full swing. Upon hearing of what happened just the other night they had busted out the food and kegs of beer, celebrating what they all saw as a victory over their rival guild.

"GAH," one member exclaimed as he finished chugging a beer. "Man I wish I could've been there to see those punks eating dirt!"

That earned him friendly slap on the shoulder from his drinking buddy. "Same here man! Heard that the four of them hardly put up a fight! Talk about pathetic!" Those gathered around burst into fits of laughter at the expense of their rival guilds pain.

Near the edge of all the partying, one member sat in a secluded corner of the room. This person was a tall and muscular young man with long, spiky black hair, which was usually kept slicked back, revealing his forehead. His eyes were red with slitted dark pupils, and had no visible eyebrows. Most of his exposed body was covered in sets of simple, round studs, the most visible being the ones on his face, with three of them above each of his eyes, and two on his chin, just below his mouth. Even his ears were adorned by two sets of five earrings each.

He also sported four studs on each of his forearms, with his right one being covered in scars. His Phantom Lord mark could be seen at the top of his right shoulder.

His outfit consisted of a shabby, black, sleeveless tunic with studded edges, a studded belt around his waist, loose, beige pants tucked inside studded black boots, and a pair of studded brown gloves paired with similarly studded wristbands. He also sported a distinctive wing-like ornament, seemingly made of feathers, jutting upwards, over his right shoulder, attached to his tunic by a large stud.

This was Gajeel Redfox, Iron Dragonslayer and the ace of Phantom Lord. He absentmindedly chewed on a nail as he took some time to ponder his thoughts. The mission he had completed the other night pricked at his conscience.

 **-The other night-**

Gajeel stood before the defeated forms of the Fairies he had been tasked with making a message out of, though the fight hadn't gone nearly as he had expected. While the first three were easy enough, it was the largest of them that put up the biggest fight.

The phantom knew that one of members of his target group was one of the famed Take Over siblings, but their information suggested that the brother was the weak link of the three and barely capable of performing a partial take over.

So imagine the Dragonslayer's surprise when the 'weak link' not only did a full body Take Over, but had also sent him skidding several meters back with a single punch. From there the fight escalated and quickly turned in Gajeel's favor, using his much greater speed to outpace the fairy.

Now standing victoriously over them though, Gajeel thought about just how misinformed his guild may have been. If they were wrong about one guy, there was no telling how wrong the rest of their info was.

Throwing those thoughts aside, Gajeel continued with the next phase of his mission. He had just grabbed the shorty among them and was about to do what he was ordered to, but was halted by a voice.

"St-stop."

He turned around to see Elfman struggling to get back to his feet, "I-I'm not finished just yet." The man's breath was labored, but he managed to mind his footing.

The Dragonslayer's eyes widened as the man took a shaky step toward him. "W-whatever you plan...to do to them...I can take it all. Just...just leave them be."

Gajeel's jaw opened slightly at the declaration . This man had no idea what he was about to do, yet was asking to shoulder all of it, just to spare a few weaklings? It made absolutely no sense to the dragonslayer. "Why the hell would you ask for that?" He found himself wanting to know the answer.

Despite the situation he found himself facing, Elfman smirked. "What kind of a man would I be," he paused to catch his breath, "If I couldn't take this level of pain? Do your worst."

Whether he meant to be or not, Gajeel found himself impressed with the fairy's resolve. Setting the woman back down, he cracked his knuckles.

 **-Present-**

Gajeel flexed his fingers as the memory of Elfman's first punch came to mind. Even though he had brought up his arms to block the attack, it had hurt quite a bit. Managing to even bruise the skin on his forearm.

"So how was it?"

Gajeel glanced to his right to see one of his fellow guild members leaning on the seat beside him.

"What?" he grumbled, popping a couple more nails in his mouth.

"You know," the man must've been drunker than Gajeel thought, as he nudged his shoulder and continued, "Getting a chance to stick it to those shitty Fairies. Wish I could've been there when they found their friends strung up. The look on their faces would be fucking priceless!"

That earned laughs from all around the guild.

Gajeel snorted and resumed eating. He didn't bother informing them of what really happened. Might as well let everyone think he followed through with the original plan. Not like they would learn any different.

As he went to grab more nails Gajeel paused. His dragon instincts were suddenly screaming, telling him that something was wrong and to be on alert.

There was no warning as the door to the guild hall suddenly flew off its hinges, colliding with the man that was just talking to him. Gajeel leapt up to the rafters, taking a knee as everyone looked toward the door.

"JOSE!" Makarov shouted from the center of the doorway, his children flanking both of his sides with the rest of the guild following up behind them. "FAIRY TAIL'S COME A KNOCKING!"

Natsu and Gray were the firsts to break from the others as they both charged forward with fire and ice respectively, pummeling those closest to the door with no difficulty. The rest of the guild quickly followed, each and everyone of them wanting a piece of the action.

Makarov's eyes glowed dangerously as he turned into his giant form, smashing any and all foes that tried and failed to impede his progress. "COME OUT JOSE," another group was swatted aside like the flies they were, "FACE THE MONSTER WHOSE CHILDREN YOU DARED TO HARM!"

From his perch above, Gajeel watched as his guild lost ground faster than they had planned. 'Shit. At this rate, the others won't have time to snatch the target.'

Suddenly the rafter he was on exploded into splinters as something slammed into him from above. Gajeel hit the floor with a thunderous crash, forming a crater several feet deep. He tried to get to his feet, but was immediately sent back down as a foot pressed down onto his stomach.

The foot twisted just a bit, but it carried with it enough force to entice a roar of pain. Partially blinded by pain Gajeel transformed his arm and swung in an attempt ward off his surprise attacker. The attack connected, but his arm flared up as something clamped down on it.

Blinking through the pain, his eyes were finally able to properly focus. Gajeel was greeted by the sight of Ryu leaning over him, his Iron club caught in the redhead's grip.

Ryu's gaze shifted to the club, his eyes showing recognition, before falling back to him. "Looks like you were the one that had the gall to invade my home." His voice was eerily calm as he applied pressure to both his grip and foot.

Gajeel bit his tongue in an attempt to stifle his cries of pain as the pressure slowly built up, the metal on his arm slowly cracking along side his ribs.

"I take it that you were also the one that attacked my friends. If that's the case," then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the pressure was gone. "I'm not the one that deserves to beat you down."

From the corner of his vision Gajeel spotted the form of a thoroughly pissed off Mirajane, her arms already in a Take Over state.

"She does," with that said, Ryu took his foot off Gajeel and walked passed his girlfriend. Mirajane allowed the Dragonslayer to get back to his feet, cracking her knuckles in anticipation while she waited for him to steady himself.

Gajeel suddenly found himself worrying for his life as the eldest of the Take Over siblings emitted a purple aura that promised nothing but pain.

* * *

Ryu walked alongside the master as they made their way to the upper levels, leaving a trail of unconscious Phantom members in their wake. Eventually the duo came to a set of large, double doors that were made of metal.

Without saying a word Ryu placed his hand on the door, a cero primed and ready in his palm. With a mere thought the energy detonated, blowing the heavy doors all the way across the room, where they barely missed the seated guildmaster of Phantom Lord.

"Ah Makarov," Jose began as he stood up, ignoring the fact that he had nearly been flattened by his own doors. Now that he was no longer seated, Ryu was able to see that he was rather tall and slim man. His hair was black and straight, reaching down to his shoulders. His face was also long and sharp, with prominent eyelashes, dark lips and pointed ears.

Much like Makarov, Jose too wore what looked like a jester's outfit only his was much more sinister in appearance.

"How long has it been since we last saw each other? Five-no, six years! Bah," the man waved his hand dismissively, "Regardless it's nice to see you."

His vision was suddenly encompassed by the form of Ryu who now appeared before him with his leg raised. The area around the two erupted with smoke and stone shrapnel as his heel hit the floor with explosive force. The smoke cleared, revealing a completely unharmed Jose standing in the air.

"Thought projection," Ryu growled, having taken note of how his attack had fazed through the enemy guildmaster.

"While putting down your rabid dog would no doubt be entertaining," Jose stated confidently as he looked Ryu up and down, "a fight between two Wizard Saints would cause unneeded destruction and I would prefer to win without a fight."

"L-Lucy," Ryu turned around to see Makarov staring at the prone and tied up form of Lucy on the ground. Confused by the sudden appearance of his blonde guildmate Ryu was too late to see the figure that stepped out from the shadows behind his master.

"GAH!" Makarov's cries of pain greeted the young Arrancar's ears as a light appeared around the old man. Ryu watched in horror as the strongest wizard he knew was reduced to an unmoving, sickly green state.

The redhead's shocked state lasted for a moment before he turned his gaze to his grandfather figure's assailant. His pupils shrank to a frightening degree as he let his control over his spiritual pressure slip.

"MASTER!"

* * *

The battle in the main hall was going rather smoothly, too smoothly Mira noted as she launched Gajeel across the room with a well placed kick. She had entered her full-body take over shortly after Ryu had left to follow the master, though quickly realized that it was unneeded.

While powerful in his own right, the Iron Dragonslayer was just too outclassed to pose a threat to her. The only reason Mira was still in her full Satan mode was to show her opponent just how far the gap between them was. She wanted him to feel very much afraid and pay for what he had to her friends and sibling.

Approaching the Dragonslayer she absentmindedly lashed out with her tail as another Phantom member that had tried to sneak up on her from behind. Needles to say that he was quickly taken out of the brawl.

Mirajane had been about to continue the one sided beat down against the one that had tortured her brother, when it happened.

All the fighting that was going on around her came to a grinding halt as the what felt like an ocean crashed over them all. The strongest amongst them were floored, herself included, while the weaker members on both sides fainted outright as the very air seemed to quake in fury.

The center of the ceiling collapsed as a form shot down through it and crashed into the floor, kicking up a large cloud of dust and debris. With an immense amount of effort, Mira managed to turn her head toward the impact site as another figure flew down from the freshly made hole, landing in the exact same spot as the last. The sickening sound of bones breaking was heard as body flew out of the smoke, crashing into the far wall.

The body fell and revealed a horribly bruised and bloody Aria. His clothes were in tatters, his limbs bent and broken, and his face looked little more than a mangled lump of flesh. The mage's chest rose and fell with breath, signaling that he was somehow still alive, but barely so.

From the center of smoke came Ryu, a murderous look in his eyes. His right hand was clenched and dripped with fresh blood, a strong indicator that he had been the one that put Aria in such a horrendous state. In his other arm lied the sickly green form of Makarov, cradled protectively to his chest like a child.

"We're leaving," once Ryu spoke those words the choking pressure was gone, disappearing as he reeled in his power. Those that were still conscious could just nod their heads, afraid to speak against his orders.

Mira was still frozen in shock at her boyfriend's brutal display up until he stood before her, hand outstretched. Choosing to ignore the blood Mirajane accepted the offered assistance and got to her feet.

"What happened?" she questioned as he set the master in her arms.

"Bastard surprised us and used a spell that drained the master of all his magic," Ryu explained as he turned to address their guildmates. "Get the old man medical attention, then regroup back at the guild!"

He kept his eyes on the few Phantom members that were still conscious, daring them to try and stop them. Fortunately for them though, none wanted to test themselves against the man that had beaten one of their strongest members into a bloody pulp.

As they exited the hall Ryu reached out with his senses, looking for Lucy's magical signature. He didn't know if what he saw early was just an illusion but he didn't want to take that chance. A moment later he had her position. It was a few miles away but that kind of distance was nothing for him. He wasn't sure how they had captured her but Ryu wasn't about to leave one of his friends behind.

As they left Phantom Lords hall Ryu grabbed Erza by the shoulder. "Make sure everyone gets home safely."

His fellow redhead shot him a questionable look but he had already disappeared with a burst of sonido. Erza glanced over at Mira who could only shake her head and follow after the others. They could do nothing but trust that what ever he left to go do was important.

* * *

 **-Phantom Lords back up base-**

Lucy had never felt so helpless in her life. Not only had she been captured with almost no effort, but she learned that all of the events that had transpired over the last few days were all due to her.

Because of her selfish desire to run away from home, one of her best friends was now lying unconscious in a hospital.

Lucy choked back the tears that threatened to spill and glared up at Jose from her seated position. The man that was also responsible for her friends' injuries and her capture. She held her glare for moment longer before shifting her gaze aside.

"...I need to use the bathroom."

Jose blinked at the sudden request. Did she really think he was stupid enough to fall for such an obvious trick? Regardless, he humored her and gestured towards a bucket in the corner of her cell.

"Feel free to-REALLY," he shouted as she got up and started heading toward it. S-she was actually going to use it? "S-such a shameless girl!" Being the gentleman that he was, Jose turned his back to his captive to provide her _some_ semblance of privacy.

His uncomfortable expression turned into one of sheer agony as a boot embedded itself in the spot that every man feared to be hit in. The Wizard Saint dropped to the floor, clutching his crushed manhood in an attempt to stifle the pain.

'I can't believe he fell for the oldest trick in the book.' In a show of childishness Lucy stuck her tongue at him and ran for the door. Her charge came to a sudden stop as she saw the eight story drop that awaited her on the other side.

"Hahaha!" Despite the pain he was currently in, Jose took pleasure in the look of horror on his captive's face. "Such a shame...that we placed you in our sky prison." He managed to fight through the pain between his legs and got to his feet.

As the man approached, Lucy backed up to the very edge of the stone, knocking some pebbles off that fell to the ground far below.

"Unfortunately," a dark aura began to gather around Jose. "I must now punish you for your transgressions against me."

Lucy stole a glance behind her, taking in the drop that would surely kill her. She clenched her fists hard enough to draw blood and stared defiantly back at the rival guildmaster whose eyes went wide.

She couldn't quite explain it, but even though her next decision almost guaranteed death, she couldn't shake the feeling that everything would turn out alright. Her mind made up, Lucy closed her eyes and jumped backwards.

.

.

.

And landed into an open pair of arms.

"Y-you knew that I was behind you right?"

Lucy opened her eyes to see a familiar redhead staring down at her incredulously. Seeing those mismatched eyes she could no longer hold back her tears as they fell freely down her cheeks, no longer restricted by the blonde.

"I-I'm so sorry," she muttered out before burying herself into his chest. "Everything that's happened was because of me."

Ryu sombered slightly as the blonde cried into his chest and held her closer. He turned his gaze to Jose, hardening into a glare that caused the man to subconsciously take a step back as the crushing weight began to make its return.

The arrancar tightened his grip on his crying friend before letting out a sigh and reeled in the power that he had nearly let loose for the second time.

"Let's go home," was all he said before flying away at a decent but slower pace than he was capable of. While sonido would without a doubt get the pair back to the guild in record time, Ryu figured Lucy would prefer it if he was the only one to witness her as she allowed the dam that was her emotions break.

* * *

Jose sat at the head of the meeting table located in their headquarters, an ice pack nestled between his still burning loins. Seated before him were three of the elemental four and Gajeel. Aria was currently in their medical wing and in critical condition due to the beating he had received from that damned fairy.

"So what do we do now?" Gajeel asked with his arms crossed. "They have the target. But with Aria out of commission, we can't power the Jupiter cannon or get the base mobile."

"I'll substitute his position until he recovers," Jose calmly stated as he re-adjusted himself. "Regardless of how we do it, we must recover Lucy Heartfilia. Not only is the client expecting her return soon, but the blow we suffered to our reputation demands we strike back."

"But how do you plan on doing that?"

The Phantoms, sans Jose, all leapt to their feet at the unknown voice that reached their ears.

"You've managed to disable an old man, but at the cost of one of your greatest weapons."

Gajeel tried to pinpoint the voice's location, but even with his enhanced hearing he couldn't pin it down as it seemed to emanate from all around them.

"Not only that," the voice focused as a figure stepped out from the shadows. It was easy to discern them as male from their voice, but all of their features were covered up by a heavy black cloak with white buckles along the front and a blank white mask. "But the moment Sato unleashed a glimpse of his power, all of your guild members were rendered immobile."

The masked man turned his gaze towards Gajeel, "Not even your ace could hold a candle to his lovers power while she was clearly holding back."

"And how is it that you know of the events that transpired just an hour ago," Jose questioned as the man walked around the room, not concerned in the slightest as the Phantoms prepared to attack at a moments notice.

"Oh, the group that I represent has it's ways to remaining hidden. At least until we desire to not be." The stranger halted in his pacing as a group of shades suddenly wrapped around his body.

Jose having lost his patience with the stranger spoke in an irritated tone. "I don't take kindly to intruders, and your rambling annoys me. Speak quickly before my patience runs its course and my shades strangle the life out of you."

The masked man doesn't so much as twitch at the shades tightening around his body. "If you reach into the pocket on the right side of my cloak, you'll find two black crystals. One of which is for your injured pawn, while the other is for yourself."

Jose commanded one of his shades to search said pocked and discovered that the stranger was speaking the truth. Directing the shade over ho himself Jose examined them. They were quite small, able to fit both in the mages hand quite easily. "And pray tell, what do these crystals do?"

Even though they couldn't see it, one of the corners of the man's lips curved upward into a grin.

"Turn the tide of the upcoming battle towards your favor."

 **-End-**


	12. Chapter 12

**Zrocker119:** **Insert obligatory reason for taking so long here.**

 **A Hollow's Fairy Tail**

 **-Start-**

.

.

.

The flight back to the guild hall was quick and one of silence, the pair only stopping once to remove the cuffs from Lucy's wrists. By the time they arrived at the hall, the rest of the guild were had already gathered in the basement, checking over those that had been wounded in the brief scuffle.

While everyone took the time to recuperate Ryu had excused himself and gone up to the infirmary restroom. Once he made sure that he was alone, the Arrancar took off his coat and vest. Setting the articles of clothing on one of the beds he lifted shirt, revealing the no longer concealed hole in his chest.

The lacrima that kept up the illusion, now had a large crack that nearly split it in two with multiple smaller ones that branched to the sides. It must have been damaged from the sudden release of his spiritual pressure. With a sigh he removed the now useless item and covered the hole. He would have to buy a new one once this whole situation was all said and done.

Throwing the lacrima in the trash, Ryu looked himself over and noticed that his hand were caked in dried blood. He filled the sink with water and began to wash it off.

"Everything all right?" He glanced back to the mirror to find Mira leaned up against the doorway, concern marring her beautiful features.

"Yeah," After draining the sink and refilling it he cupped some water and splashed his face. Drying off with a nearby towel Ryu asked, "How are the others doing? Anyone seriously hurt?"

Mirajane shook her head, "Other than the master, no."

"And those that passed out?"

"They're fine," she was startled by the sound of shattering glass. Ryu's fist was now embedded in the mirror, his shattered reflection staring back at him.

"I wanted to kill them," his lip curled upward in disdain as he spoke, "Jose, the bastard that put the old man in his condition. I wanted to do it so bad that I let my control slip...and our friends suffered for it."

A pair of arms wrapped around his chest as Mira enveloped him in a gentle embrace.

"Everyone of us would've reacted the same," Mira stated as she rested against his back. Like everyone else that had been present, she had felt his fury when the master had been defeated. But she had felt something else as well. Maybe it was due to the pair's closer bond, but amongst all the fury, Mirajane felt a sliver a fear.

Her lover had been afraid that he had failed to protect the man that had offered all of them a home. The one they all saw as a father. "It wasn't your fault."

"I know," Ryu started, visibly relaxing beneath her touch. "I just wish that I could've prevented it." He removed his fist from the mirror and grasped her hand. He continued to stare at his reflection. His black and yellow eye flashed as he came to a decision.

"Head back down to the others," he spoke suddenly. "I need to make a call." He caught her look of concern in their reflection. Turning around he cupped her cheek and gave her a small smile. "Don't worry, I'll be down shortly."

* * *

Despite wanting to stay, Mira followed through with his request and returned to the basement, arriving just in time to catch the tail end of Lisanna conversing with Laxus over the communication lacrima.

"-'ll try and get there soon."

With a sigh, the youngest Strauss nodded. Hanging up she turned to address the rest of them. "Laxus and the others are on their way, but it'll be some time before they get here." She looked towards Mira, "How's Ryu?"

"He'll be down shortly. Just had to make a call." Mira patted her sister's shoulder as she walked towards the makeshift bar, where a thoroughly depressed Lucy sat. Taking the chair next her, she spoke, "How are you holding up?"

That earned her a shake of the head, "This is all my fault."

Mira sighed in exasperation, "Lucy, I fail to see how any of this cou-"

"My father hired Phantom Lord to bring me home." Lucy pulled her knees to her chest and rested her head in them. "Levy, Jet, Droy and now the master. They all got hurt because I was selfish and ran away!"

Seeing the normally cheerful blonde in such a miserable and self loathing state caused Mira's sisterly instincts to kick in. Before Lucy could say more she pulled the now crying woman into her bosom.

"I know how to make it all stop." Lucy looked up at her role model, fresh tears streaming down her face, "B-but I don't want to leave. I-I love Fairy Tail!"

"Then stay," shouted Natsu as he punched his open palm. "And if someone tries to take you away, then we'll send 'em packing!"

"Spoken like a true man!" Elfman roared with his fists raised.

Lucy watched as more and more guild members raised their arms with shouts of agreement. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes, but unlike the one of despair and self loathing she had shed just moments ago, these were of happiness.

"G-guys."

Mira looked down at the blonde with a smile, not unlike that of a mother, and gently hugged her. "We're all family here Lucy. We'll protect you no matter wha-"

The tender moment was shattered by the sudden quaking of the ground, silencing everyone. Not even a few seconds had passed before it shook again. The process repeated, the quakes steadily becoming stronger and stronger. Something big was coming, and whatever it was it was closing in fast.

Without needing to be told, everyone ran up the stairs and went straight outside. The sight of what greeted them caused them to come to a screeching halt. A castle was heading towards their location, walking through the water on four, giant, mechanical legs.

When it was only a few hundred meters away it stopped its progression. Before anyone could begin to question just what the hell was going on, the lower, front facing side of the castle opened, revealing the barrel of a cannon that was aimed at them. A swirl of dark energy began to gather at the tip, forming a monstrously large sphere of raw power.

"Everyone get to cover!" Erza, clad in only a towel as she had been taking a shower just moments before, shouted as she charged to the front of the group. Her form glowed and she was suddenly encased in a high tech looking armor with half of an enormous shield mounted on each arm.

The cannon fired and a beam of pure darkness and energy, several meters in diameter blasted towards them. Just as Erza was about to lock her shields together and tank the blast head on to protect her family, a form blurred into existence between her and the beam.

She only had a second to take in Ryu's sudden appearance before the blast struck. The beam impacted the redhead's outstretched hand, the ground beneath him crumpled and disintegrated as he held it at bay.

The ungodly screech that emanated from the point of contact was unbearable, everyone covering their ears in an attempt to stifle the noise. Ryu's face scrunched slightly as he felt himself slowly being pushed back. Regaining his passive look he brought his other hand forward, completely halting attack.

He could feel as the blast slowly chipped through his hierro, drawing blood. The Arrancar smiled, but it wasn't his usual friendly and caring expression. This smile was almost feral, something that belonged on a beast rather than a person.

Ryu gathered energy into his hands, forming a cero. This wasn't just any cero though as he had used his blood as a catalyst. This one was completely white in appearance, with multiple streams of energy arcing off of the main body, similar to that of lightning.

The gathered energy slowly grew larger and larger, until it finally peaked, roughly the size of a volleyball.

" **GRAN RAY CERO!"**

With a crack of thunder, the white sphere shot off like a rocket. Spinning like a buzzsaw it tore through the opposing attack with little difficulty. The cero continued until it disappeared down the barrel of the cannon before erupting from within in a brilliant display of light. When the light finally died down, the cannon and a large portion of the front of the castle was just gone, having been completely disintegrated by Ryu's attack.

The Arrancar returned his hands to his sides, the burns already in the process of healing.

Erza reverted back to her normal armor and approached him, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," he growled. "I'm pissed off more than anything." Had anyone other than himself blocked that blast, they would've been seriously injured, or possibly died. This was the last straw.

"That was an impressive display," Jose's voice could be heard as it emanated from the walking fortress, no doubt amplifying his voice with magic. "But don't think that the Jupiter cannon was the only weapon at our disposal. Return Lucy Heartfilia to us befo-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP," Ryu roared, cutting off the enemy guildmaster and successfully drawing everyone's attention. "You really think that you're in a position to make demands of us!? You who desecrated our home, who assaulted our guildmates and tried to assassinate our master!"

Ryu began to emanate tendrils of energy as he allowed his fury to rise, the pressure around him building up with each word spoken. Ryu raised his hand and flipped Jose the bird, "I think I speak for all of Fairy Tail when I tell you to GO TO HELL!"

* * *

Through grit teeth, Jose cursed the fools as they erupted into a cacophony of cheers, while others hurled insults towards him and his guild.

"So be it," Jose turned to one of his underlings, "Activate Phantom MK2!" The underling whose name he couldn't even bother to remember ran out of the room as fast as he could. If these fairies wanted to die, then who was he to stop them.

While they waited for the MK2 to shift he turned to address Gajeel and the remainder of the elemental four, that being Juvia and a newly revived Aria. The other two, Totomaru and Sol were at the power source of the Jupiter Cannon when it exploded.

Whether they were alive or not was of little consequence. They should've been stronger.

"Gajeel I want you to go and retrieve Heartfilia, and take Juvia with you," he quickly added. "I refuse to leave anything to chance." Not after seeing the destructive power Sato was capable of.

Out of the corner of his eye, the wizard saint caught the look of hesitance crossing his Ace's face. "Is there something wrong, Gajeel?"

"...No, nothing at all." Gajeel responded as he left the room. Juvia gazed at him in concern before following after him.

Jose waited until the only ones that remained were himself and Aria. "How do you feel?"

"Like my eyes have finally been opened," the wind mage responded with a dead tone. His skin was a bit on the pale side and even though his trademark blindfold was in place, the purple glow of his eyes could still be seen. "Never before have I felt such power."

Jose reached into his coat pocket, where he clutched the crystal that had been given to him by the stranger. He was hesitant to use it on himself, but after seeing the power it granted one of his own, he would be lying if he said that he wasn't tempted to use it.

Shaking his head, Jose quashed those thoughts. He was powerful enough to send Sato and the rest of those damned fairies to oblivion on his own. Like he required the help of some trinket to accomplish something so trivial.

* * *

"What's bothering you Gajeel?"

Gajeel glanced to the blue-haired woman beside him with a raised brow. "What do you mean?"

"You've been acting strange ever since the last battle." The rain woman said with a concerned look. "Juvia is worried about you."

The Dragonslayer held her gaze for a moment before resuming his pace. While he didn't show it, Gajeel did appreciate her concern. Of all the guild members in Phantom Lord, Juvia was the only one that he considered an actual friend and trusted to watch his back.

After a few more moments of silence, Gajeel finally spoke, "You don't need to worry about me. I've got a plan that'll see the both of us through this." He shot her a toothy grin. "I've got it all worked out."

The duo stumbled as the base shook. Looking out a nearby window, they saw the now transformed base drawing an absolutely monstrous magic circle, followed by a tidal wave of their master's shades assaulting the fairies.

"We better hurry." With renewed vigor, the dragonslayer and rain woman picked up the pace. While she was still worried, Juvia trusted Gajeel to see them through this and survive.

* * *

"...It turns...into a robot," Mirajane said as she and the others watched the now giant machine draw a magic circle that measured up to its size. "Can't say I've seen that before."

"Same here...surprisingly," Ryu could honestly say that this was a first for him. What wasn't a first though, was the wave upon waves of shadowy figures that were currently floating towards their position.

"T-that's Abyss Break," Cana cried out after observing the magic circle. "But that spell was outlawed by the Magic Council for being too dangerous."

Ryu raised a brow at her, "Just how dangerous are we talking about here?"

"The spells destructive power scales with its size," everyone turned toward the giant at that little tidbit of information. Given how the magic circle was larger than their guild hall, it was safe to say that it would be bad should it be cast.

The Arrancar thumbed the handle of his blade absentmindedly as he contemplated how to proceed. They knew for a fact that at least one of the Elemental Four was out of commission and that Mira was able to handle Gajeel with ease. That left three unknowns and Jose himself.

"Mira, Natsu and Gray." Those that were mentioned faced him, "the three of you are with me. We're taking the fight to them."

"And what of the rest of us," asked Erza, having requip into her heaven's wheel armor.

"The rest of you will stay here and keep them from getting Lucy."

Lucy chose that moment to speak up, "I'm going to fight too. I refuse to sit back and do nothing while everyone risks their lives to protect me."

Ryu approached her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "And I'm not asking you to do nothing. Help in anyway you can, but don't put yourself at risk. They get you, and it's all over." She looked into his eyes and Ryu felt impressed by how much resolve he saw in her gaze.

"Gray," Ryu said as he faced the ice mage. "Make a path to that monstrosity. The three of you will work your way up." He prepared to use sonido when someone grabbed his arm, halting his departure.

"You never said what you were doing." He turned to face Mira who had a fearful look in her eyes. "Please tell me you aren't going to fight Jose by yourself." The silence that followed was all the answer that she needed. "Ryu, I know more than anyone how strong you are...but Jose is a Wizard Saint for a re-"

She was interrupted by Ryu's lips encompassing hers. The others felt a bit awkward as the couple shared a passionate kiss, but felt that it would be bad for their health to interrupt. A few more moments passed before the two separated.

While Mira was off balance from the sudden display of affection, he sent her a confident smirk. With one last wink, Ryu was gone with a burst of static that she was all too familiar with.

"...He'll be fine Mira," Erza said, placing a comforting hand on her rivals shoulder, "If anyone can beat Jose, it's going to be him."

"I know," Mira hugged herself as she tried and failed to banish the fears and thoughts of doubt from her mind. "But it doesn't make it easier."

"Then we better get going," Gray stepped forward and slammed his hands to the ground. The area in front of them was encased in ice that quickly spread to the lake, giving them a path to walk upon. The Ice-Make mage turned towards his friends with a smirk, "The faster we take out cannon fodder, the sooner we can help Ryu kick that bastard's ass!"

"Hell yeah," Natsu roared with a jet of flame. "Let's get moving then!" Without needing any further encouragement, the dragonslayer took off across the ice. Gray, not one to be outdone, was right alongside him.

This snapped Mira from doubt. With a shake of her head and a clap of her cheeks, the eldest Strauss charged after her guildmates. Being fearful would only hold her back, and that wouldn't do Ryu any good. She could only have faith and help him in anyway she can.

* * *

The former Espada walked through the halls of Phantom Lord's mobile base. Shortly after his abrupt entry via smashing through the wall, Ryu was immediately set upon by several dozen members of Phantom.

Not even a minute passed before Ryu continued through the base unimpeded, in his wake lay a trail of unconscious bodies of those that were foolish enough to put themselves between him and his target. He rounded a corner and found himself in a large open room.

His eyes narrowed as Jose stood at the opposite side of the room, his back to the Arrancar. As he moved to take a step though, Jose spoke.

"So you've come to face me alone." Jose turned to face the one that dared to invade his guild, revealing that he had undergone a change of wardrobe. His jester-like outfit was gone, having been replaced by a much more militaristic uniform of sorts. "Then you are far more foolish than I thought was capable. Do you truly believe tha-"

A flash of red rushed passed the wizard's head as small cut appeared on his cheek. He turned to find that the blade that was sheathed at Ryu's side was embedded in the wall, barely a centimeter away from impaling him.

He looked back towards the young man, only to find that he had used the time it took him to turn to close the distance between them. Jose could barely process what was happening before a hand wrapped around his throat and was tossed across the room like a discarded rag.

The saint rubbed his throat and bit back a snarl. Who did this prat think he was dealing with!? With thoughts that promised pain and suffering, Jose got to his feet and flexed his magic power. Screw the monologue he had thought out beforehand, he was going to teach this little shit how to properly respect his betters.

For his part, Ryu calmly grabbed the handle to his blade and ripped it from the stone wall with practiced ease. He could sense Jose's magic power rising to an impressive level, but he quirked a brow at the feeling that came with it.

'This man's energy,' Ryu thought as he brought his Zanpakuto forward, 'it has no feeling other than malevolence.' His gaze sharpened as Jose gathered magic into his hand and waved it in an arc in front of him.

"Dark Pulse," subsequently a beam of energy followed his hand movement, blasting out towards the Arrancar. Ryu retained his calm demeanor as the attack neared. At the last possible moment he lashed out with his blade, deflecting the blast to the side where it collided with the wall and exploded.

He blurred forward with speed that completely eclipsed anything that the wizard had seen previously. Jose was barely able to bring his arms up to guard against a kick that nearly caused the bones in his arms to snap.

Jose retaliated with a wave of shades in an attempt to put distance between them, but the fairy simple twisted his body to avoid the ghostly figures and slashed his sword. The dark wizard was able to avoid all but the very tip of the blade, which caught his cheek.

With a rage induced show, Jose expelled a large amount of magic energy that succeeded in pushing the redhead back to the opposite end of the room.

Rather than crash into the wall, Ryu was able to orientate himself so that his feet touched first in a crouch. With a kick that caused the wall to collapse, he launched himself back into the fray with his sword poised for a thrust.

Jose countered with another dark pulse, but to his disbelief Ryu tore through the attack like it wasn't even there and nearly lost his head for it. Fortunately for him though he got away with yet another cut on his other cheek.

Ryu smirked, "Figured that you would appreciate it if I made it so that your cheeks matched each other."

The vein on Jose's forehead pulsed as he exploded with rage. "Enough!" How dare this boy make a fool of him! He's one of the Ten Wizard Saints, recognized as one of the strongest mages in the country. Yet this upstart dared to mock him!

"Shade Entangle!" Before Ryu could understand what was happening, the floor beneath him erupted into a swarm of ghostly figures. The shades quickly entangled his limbs, another wrapping itself around his throat.

The Arrancar immediately tried to free himself but was surprised when he found himself being choked out even faster despite the grip on his throat and limbs not tightening whatsoever.

"Hehe-hehehe, struggle all you want Sato," Jose spoke with sadistic glee. "My shades will just drain the life out of you even faster!" His grin faltered when he noticed that his trapped foe wasn't panicking in the slightest. Instead Ryu allowed his body to slacken, and his head to lull forward. Jose could now see his bored look and dull eyes.

"Is that all?" the redhead asked in disappointment as he began to exert a large amount of spiritual pressure. His body was enveloped in a white glow that destroyed the surrounding shades. "I expected more from one of the famed Wizard Saints, but I guess my expectations were too high."

Jose grit his teeth so hard that he himself was surprised they hadn't shattered from the force he was exerting on them. He was trying to keep a cool head but this little shit just kept pushing all the right buttons. Taking a deep breath, the phantom felt himself calm down, and sent a razor sharp glare his opponents way.

"I'll show you just how powerful this Wizard Saint is."

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 **-End-**


	13. Chapter 13

**Zrocker119:** **Guess who's back everybody. I apologize for the long wait, but I just really needed to take a break from my computer. But my creative juices are fully charged and flowing past max capacity so be prepared for chapters for several of my story's to start coming out.**

 **Well that's enough talk for now. Let's get on with reason why your here.**

 **A Hollow's Fairy Tail**

 **-Start-**

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"Hurry up," shouted a random Phantom member as he waved his fellow guildmates on. "We've got to get to the mas-"

The wall directly to his left exploded, which in turn rocketed him across the room, where he smacked face first into the opposing wall and rendered him unconscious. The remaining members that were present looked to the newly made opening.

"Out of my way!" Was all they were able to hear before a white blur tore through them all before they could even understand what had happened.

In the midst of all the disabled Phantoms stood Mirajane, who took a moment to catch her breath. It had been about ten minutes since she had stormed the base alongside the others. But after their initial breach she had quickly run ahead of Natsu and Gray, leaving only a trail of unconscious bodies for them to follow.

Mira had yet to activate her Take-Over as no one she had come across was able to withstand a single strike in her base state. Bringing her hands up she observed them in wonder before clenching them into fists.

Feeling a tremor rip through the building Mira glanced upwards, knowing that the shaking was due to Ryu's battle with Jose. The gut retching feeling of dread from before had returned in full force, becoming an almost unbearable weight in her stomach. Ryu had always told her that her instincts would never betray her and to listen to them. Well right now her instincts were screaming that something horrible was going to happen and it would happen soon.

Bending her knees so that she was in a crouch position, Mira flung herself at the ceiling, fist drawn back. With a single strike Mirajane tore through floor after floor, plowing through concrete like it was little more than paper.

'I won't let Ryu fight alone,' she told herself as she blasted through another floor. As she came closer to the top the tremors grew stronger and stronger along with the air getting heavier. They reached the point that Mira was forced to activate her Satan Soul in order to keep up her current momentum.

As she breached through the next floor though, she was caught off guard by something impacting her stomach. The force of which was strong enough to completely shift her momentum and send her crashing through one of the nearby walls.

With an audible groan Mira pushed the rubble off of her person and stood up, only to immediately grasp her stomach, doubling over in pain. Moving her hands aside she saw that an enormous bruise was already starting to form. 'W-what!?

"Ah, I see that you've somehow managed to survive my first attack."

Glancing up, albeit somewhat painfully, Mira was able to see that her ambusher had been Aria.

"H-how are you standing!?" Mirajane very clearly remembered the crippled state that her boyfriend had left the Phantom mage in, and to her knowledge there was no magic in the world that could stabilize, let alone return him to the peak condition that he appeared to be in.

"How I am healthy once more is of little concern to you," Mira dove to the side as a current of air shot from his palm. Ignoring the pain the Take Over mage flew at him and threw a punch only for him to catch her fist.

Pulling on her arm Aria threw her over his shoulder, firing another blast of compressed air after her. Extending her wings Mira was able to maneuver around the blast, noticing how it turned the wall that she would've hit into nothing but a pile of dust.

Gritting her teeth Mirajane calmed herself down and tried to get a read on him. There was no way that the Phantom mage was this powerful a few hours ago. Keeping at a distance Mira utilized her agility to avoid his attacks, all the while observing him, trying to discern the source of his new found power.

"Keeping at a distance will do you no good," the Fairy's eyes widened when her opponent suddenly disappeared. Before she could react he reappeared right before her, his hands outstretched and a magic seal at the ready.

"Zetsu."

The last thing Mirajane saw was glow of a magic seal before her vision was encompassed in an explosion.

* * *

A couple floors down the two other members of Fairy Tail felt the tremors as well.

"Sounds like Mira and Ryu are really going at it," shouted Natsu while punching out some Phantom Lord grunt. "Think they'll be alright without us?"

"Are you kidding me right now?" Gray said, freezing an entire group of grunts before shooting his friend/rival an incredulous look. "It's those two that we're talking about. I'm more afraid that they'll forget we're here and bring this place down right on top of us."

Natsu hummed in agreement, roasting another group of enemies with a stream of fire from his mouth. "Then we better get up top before that happens."

With a game plan now in mind the two made short work of the remaining cannon fodder before continuing on through the next hallway. Busting down the doors at the end of the room the fire and ice duo skidded to a halt when they noticed who stood in their way.

"Gajeel," Natsu's eye taking on a dangerous gleam as he stared down his fellow Dragonslayer. None at Fairy Tail had forgotten that he was the one responsible for Elfman's and the others' conditions, and he was itching for some payback.

Gray meanwhile eyed up the blue haired woman that stood beside the Dragonslayer. He had never seen her before, she hadn't been there when they had assaulted Phantom Lord earlier that day and knew nothing about her capabilities. With that in mind Gray threw his shirt aside, not that he realized it, and dropped into his Ice Make stance.

On the other side of the room Juvia prepared herself for the upcoming fight, but saw out of the corner of her vision that Gajeel had yet to move. The Iron Dragonslayer just stood firm and unmoving with his eyes closed.

Just when she was about to ask if something was the matter, her ally suddenly released a long sigh and held up his arm in front of her.

"We surrender."

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Three sets of eyes stared at the man like he had lost his mind.

"G-Gajeel!?" The man in question glanced over at the water mage seeing nothing but confusion and a small amount of betrayal in her eyes. "Is this the plan you spoke about!?"

The slayer could only nod.

"What the hell did you just say?" Natsu's voice was quiet but carried a dangerous tone.

"I said that we surrender," repeated Gajeel. "We give up, we're done fighting, laying down our arms. There aren't many other ways I can say it."

The Fire Dragonslayer stormed across the room, walking right up to Gajeel and grabbing him by his shirt. He got no resistance from the Phantom mage.

"Is this a damn joke to you!?" When Gajeel didn't offer a response Natsu snapped, punching him in the stomach with a flame encased fist. Even though he fell to his knees, clenching his now aching stomach, Gajeel still did nothing in retaliation.

"Do you really think it would be that easy!?" Fire escaping from his mouth, Natsu hauled the larger man up by the shirt and held him off the ground. "After what you did to our guild, our family...did you really think we wouldn't get payback!"

Despite feeling betrayed by the Ace of her guild, Juvia prepared to use one of her spells to free her partner when a Gajeel raised his hand, stopping her before she could even start to form the spell.

"Why?" Gray now stood beside Natsu, glaring daggers at the man that was responsible for much of the guilds misery.

"...Cause I didn't sign up to be a murderer." The two stared at Gajeel in shock, Natsu actually letting the man go. Fixing his shirt, Gajeel stood up before continuing, "I'm all for a little competition between guilds...but the master has taken in to far. You think he'll stop once we get blondie back? This isn't about completing a job and collecting the pay. Not anymore."

"Jose has gone off the deep end." Gajeel turned to Juvia, "You've seen it right? That look he had in his eye when he sent us to retrieve Heartfilia."

Juvia closed her eyes, thought for a moment and sighed. "Juvia knows what Gajeel is talking about."

"He doesn't care about the rules anymore," Gajeel went on, "He won't stop until the two of you, Sato, the Strauss's, your master and everyone else that is a part of your guild is ground into dust."

"There's no way he could get away with that!" Gray argued. "The council-"

"Jose thinks that he now has the power to defeat the council," Gajeel explained. "Shortly after you lot attacked our guildhall a man appeared before us. Don't bother with asking who he was and what he looked like. He never gave his name and wore a heavy cloak and mask. He gave the master two crystals, saying that they would return Aria to fighting condition along with increasing his power."

"Now master hasn't used his yet, but he did use one on Aria...and it changed him." Gajeel shuddered as the memory of the Air mage's body contorting as the unknown crystal repaired his mangled form and flooded his body with ethernano. "His magic power skyrocketed, but he no longer acts like himself and is much more ruthless. Maybe your stronger members could take him if they worked together, but if the master were to use the other one on himself."

"We would need the master to take him on," Gray finished as he took it all in. "But Ryu has to be fighting him by now right?" As if on cue the entire base shook from the aftershocks of battle. "We've got to go help him before Jose gets a chance to use that crystal. Let's go Natsu!"

The fire mage spared the two Phantoms only last glance before following after his comrade, leaving the two to their own devices.

"What do we do now Gajeel?"

The Iron Dragonslayer sighed before he began to walk away. "The Abyss break is still charging up. We're powering it so we need to leave the area so...we can at least give them enough time to defeat Aria and stop the spell completely."

Stepping in line beside him Juvia asked the one question that was on both of their minds. "What do we do after that?"

"We hope that they can defeat that crazed bastard."

* * *

A cry of pain escaped from Mirajane's lips as she crashed into a wall. Her form was beaten and battered, covered in a multitude of cuts and littered with bruises. Pulling herself from the wall, the whitette stood, albeit on shaky legs.

She glared hatefully at the man that stood across from her, hardly any damage done to his clothes let alone the man himself. After barely surviving his Zetsu spell, Mirajane had been on the ropes, having no room to counter attack. It was like fighting Ryu for the first time only Aria wasn't holding back.

"It's time to end this farce," Mira tensed as Aria brought his hands forward, palms facing each other. "I'm afraid that you will not survive this final attack." The wind picked up, surrounding the man in a small whirlwind, slowing gaining in size and strength. "Farewell, pathetic Fairy!"

"Zer-"

 **BOOM!**

The wall exploded a few feet to Mira's right, showering the Take Over mage with dust and rubble. There was a flash of light and the sound of another explosion. Coughing the elder Strauss gave a powerful swipe of her hand, clearing away all of the smoke.

She blinked in surprise, hardly believing what she was currently seeing. "L-Laxus?"

Standing over the smoking form of Aria with his back to her was indeed the master's grandson. His coat was missing, leaving him with only his purple dress shirt, baggy pants and shoes. Even his iconic headphones were missing.

"Sorry I'm late," Laxus looked back over his shoulder but faced her fully when he saw just how injured she was, "How are you holding up?"

"I'll manage," Mirajane shrugged off his concern and merely patted herself down, knocking off the dust that clung to her. The action caused her to wince a bit but she played it off, "I thought you said that you wouldn't be able to make it?"

If Laxus saw through her bluff he didn't say. He instead undid the top few buttons of his shirt and moved it aside, revealing the rapidly disappearing rune on his chest. "Freed placed an 'enhance speed' rune on me and told me to get moving. I didn't stay to argue with him."

Redoing the buttons of his shirt he glanced back at the unconscious, and still smoking, form of Aria. "How the hell did this guy give you so much trouble? Haven't you been training with your boyfriend?"

"I have no idea." Standing beside him, Mirajane knelt down and looked at the man's body over. Now that she was up close and not being attacked she could see that Aria's skin was much paler than it should've been. "You weren't there, but when we first struck back Ryu all but tore him to pieces. He should've been hospitalized for months, maybe even years, yet they got him up and moving within hours."

Laxus could only grunt in response before pulling Mira back and blasting the man with another bolt of lightning. When the light show died down, Aira was covered in a thick layer of soot. "Well, he isn't getting back up again anytime soon."

Any other day Mirajane would be more than a bit miffed about the unnecessary amount of force that Laxus had just used, but she couldn't bring herself to care and looked up at the ceiling.

Glancing at the lightning mage she gestured upwards, "Think you ca-"

Whatever she was going to say was interrupted by a sudden wave of malice that washed over them. The S-class mages were both forced to their knees as it threatened to crush them, but they were able to hold out, the weight disappearing a few seconds later.

"What the hell was that!?" Laxus roared in confusion and a small amount of fear. That pressure had been unlike anything that the proud mage had felt before.

"It came from above us." Knowing that the sudden pressure had to have something to do with Ryu and Jose's battle, Mira closed her eyes and focused on sensing out his spiritual pressure. Her eyes shot open a moment later, but there was now a panic in her blue orbs.

"I-I can't feel Ryu's energy!" Before Laxus could question her, Mira had already smashed through the ceiling, not stopping until she reached the final floor.

She now stood in a large open room, largest she had seen in this place so far, and looked to have been in a war zone. Craters and holes were scattered about the place and she could even spy a few splashes of blood here and there. But as she looked around, Mira realized that neither Ryu nor Jose were anywhere to be seen.

Just as she was about to call out something crashed through one of the walls, tumbled across the room and slammed into the opposing wall. She caught the sight of red hair before the wall collapsed on top of the person.

"Ryu!" Mira cried, rushing over and started to move the rubble off of him. After throwing several chunks of brick and stone to the side, she had moved enough to find one of his hands. Grabbing a hold of it, Mira pulled with all her might. Her efforts weren't in vain as she succeeded in pulling her lover out from the rubble.

"Fuck," Ryu whispered with a cough, several drops of blood dribbling from the corners of his mouth. Blinking the pain away he noticed Mira hovering above him. "M-Mira! What are you doing here!?"

She was taken aback by the anger in his tone. "I came to help you fight Jose."

"No! You and the others need to leave now!" Ryu ordered, standing up while doing so, allowing Mirajane to see his current state. Both his coat and vest were gone with his shirt hanging on by a thread. His body was covered in bruises and lacerations that were in the process of healing.

His left arm was limp while the right grasped his blade, though it no longer held a fine edge, now horribly chipped in several places.

Mira went to speak but stopped when Ryu's eyes suddenly went wide. Before she could ask what was wrong the red head shoved her to the side, just as a shadowy blade appeared from the floor.

Mirajane stared at the blade in shock. She hadn't even sensed it forming beneath her. The Take Over mage realized that if Ryu hadn't pushed her aside, then she would've been killed just now.

With a burning rage in his eye Ryu slashed the shadow blade to pieces, only for another to form and stab into his shoulder, bypassing his hierro completely and drawing blood. A hand reached out from the floor, grabbed the sword by the handle and pulled it to the side.

Ryu let out a barely muffled grunt of pain as his arm was cut off at the shoulder, the limb falling uselessly to the floor.

"Ryu!" Mira rushed over to his side in a panic, not noticing the blades that formed above the two. The Arrancar did though and suddenly tackled her, shielding Mirajane as the blades descended upon them.

Mira could only blink as she saw Ryu's face hover just a few inches above her own. Feeling something drip onto her stomach, the whitette glanced downwards and her confused expression quickly changed to one of horror.

"A-are you alright?"

Mira ignored Ryu's question, instead choosing to get out from under him to stare at the six or so blades of shadow that were currently impaled through his back.

"Are you alright!?" Ryu asked again but was once more ignored. "Mir-GAH!" He coughed up a mouthful of blood as the blades forced themselves deeper, some now protruding all the way through and out of his stomach.

His cry of pain finally snapped Mira from her horror stricken stupor. "Ryu!" Being as careful as possible, Mira managed to help him lie down on his side. "Try not to move! Y-you've lost so much blood."

"Can't heal," Ryu groaned out, "Blades are in the way. Have to-Gah!" There was a spurt of blood as another blade came from below and impaled him through the leg.

"Ryu!"

"Tch, this scene makes me want to vomit." The floor in front of them darkened as a figure rose from the shadows. The shadow's parted to reveal Jose, but he had undergone some sort of transformation.

His skin was much paler than it had been previously and there was now an aura of darkness that encompassed his entire form. His eyes had changed as well. The sclera had become pitch black and his iris had turned purple which seemed to be radiating with power.

Yet it wasn't the physical changes that caused Mirajane to freeze in fear but the aura he was emitting. The sheer amount of malice was almost enough to make the Take Over mage vomit.

"At least now I'll be able to take care of the two of you at once," Jose spoke as another blade formed, which he grasped in his right hand. "Farewell, Fairy tra-"

A scaled fist interrupted his monologue as Mira, once again in her Satan Soul, punched him in the stomach, her desire to protect Ryu overriding her fear. The Wizard Saint though...he didn't even budge as he calmly raised his unoccupied hand and backhanded her across the face, launching her to the other side of the room where she crashed into the wall at sonic speeds.

"I'm well beyond your realm of comprehension girl," Jose spoke, loathing dripping from each word. "Where Sato may have proven to be a challenge before, you weren't ever considered a threat...though I must commend you for defeating Aria."

A small chuckle came from Mira at that, causing the master of Phantom Lord to raise a brow. "Do you find my words funny girl, or has your mind broken in the midst of fear."

"What makes you think," Mira began with a smirk, "That I was the one to beat that air mage bastard."

Jose's eyes momentary narrowed in confusion before going wide and quickly turning around, but by then it was too late.

The floor beneath him erupted as an absolutely massive bolt of electricity struck from below, bathing the room in a blinding yellow light. The light show went on for several seconds before finally dying down, leaving that entire section of the room in a smoky haze.

Disorientated and ears ringing from her close proximity to the blast zone, Mira slowly made her way over to Ryu. As she approached she saw that the swords that had impaled him had dissipated and now had a growing pool of blood surrounding him, though as she grew closer she noticed that his wounds were slowly healing, though his arm had yet to even start growing back.

A thud was heard to her side and a quick glance revealed that it was only Laxus. "Sorry for the wait," he apologized and bent down to help her with Ryu. "Would have acted sooner but I didn't want to risk him sensing me."

"Do you think you got him?" Mira had Ryu's remaining arm over her shoulder, uncaring about the blood that was getting all over her.

"Wouldn't count on it." The two glanced over at the smoke that still hid the Phantom from view. "Regardless we need to regroup and wait for the old man to-"

A pulse of dark magic crashed into the lightning mage's side, sending him crashing into the nearby wall.

"Laxus!" Mira stepped to the side as another blast came at her from the smoke. Due to her still holding up Ryu though she wasn't able to avoid it completely, the right side of her hip catching the edge of it. The pain that flared up nearly caused her to fall to the floor, but she held strong.

"Did you really think that Makarov's little brat grandson could do anything?" The smoke finally cleared out, revealing Jose floating in the air, completely unharmed by Laxus' surprise attack. "All you've done girl...is earn my ire!"

The air began to shake as the darkness around the wizard saint grew in intensity. Pointing the blade that was still in his grasp at the two, he used the tip as a focal point and charged it with magic power. "Perish!"

The events that followed appeared to happen in slow motion for Mirajane.

A narrow beam of raw magic energy shot from the tip of the blade on a trajectory that would pierce right through the both of them due to their current angle. Though she knew that it would be impossible for both of them to make it out of this alive, Mirajane would try to save at least one of them.

Just as she prepared to throw Ryu out of harm's way, she felt the arms around her shoulders tense and a pair a lips press against her cheek before finding herself getting tossed to the side.

She saw Ryu, blood dripping from his lips, smiling at her as he held his blade in the beams path in a last act of defiance. His final attempt would do him no good. The beam seared his chipped blade in two and pierced his chest.

The force of which was more than enough to knock him off his unsteady feet and send him crashing into the wall. The wall stood for only a moment before it began to crumble, revealing the outside world and the long drop to the water below. It was at that moment that time seemed to resume its normal speed.

"RYU!" Seeing the stone beneath him start to collapse Mira dove toward him, the rough stone tearing at her skin as she slid across it. But she was too late. Just as she was about to get a grasp of his hand, the floor collapsed with Ryu following after it.

"No, nonononono!" Mira cried as she saw his body plummet through the air, her eyes widening in horror as she saw the extent of the damage caused by the beam.

There was a hole, about the size of a fist, and it had punched straight through his heart.

"No," her voice was barely above that of a whisper. Tears quickly began to fall as she saw Ryu's body impact the water, sinking beneath the waves a few seconds later.

"Nononononononono."

She could hear the sounds of combat going on behind her but she couldn't bring herself to move from her current position. Ryu was gone.

She kneeled down as reality set in and pulled herself into a hug. The air grew heavy as her magic power ran rampant, encompassing her in a purple aura that lashed out randomly mimicking the hurricane that was her emotional state.

Mira felt her stomach twist and turn as the pressure within her became too great for her to contain...so she stopped trying to hold it back.

" **RYYYUUUUU!"**

Her magic energy exploded and the entire town was illuminated by a bright light.

* * *

 **-A few moments earlier-**

When Laxus rushed back to the guild to help with the fight, the last thing he ever expected to see was Ryu on the floor, bleeding from what seemed to be a never ending amount of wounds. The younger man was powerful and had seemed almost untouchable.

For him to be reduced to such a state...it just seemed like a bad dream.

Barely conscious, Laxus pulled himself from the wall that Jose had sent him into, just in time to see Ryu get blasted through the chest and blown outside.

"DAMN IT!"

Enveloping his form in a cloak of lightning, Laxus threw himself at the Wizard Saint. Jose sidestepped the sloppy attack, sending a horde of his shades at the younger man with but a gesture.

With anger numbing his sense of fear Laxus charged forward as the shades swarmed him. A few disintegrated on contact with his cloak but more were able to latch on, yet with a couple twists and turns the lightning mage was able to shake them off.

Reaching the target of his rage, Laxus unleashed a flurry of lightning quick punches and kicks, each imbued with his magic and increasing his lethality. He was done playing around. This bastard had just killed a member of his guild, and he would see the score settled with blood.

Jose quirked a brow as the young mage's arms suddenly developed a scale-like pattern and his canines became much more prominent.

Sucking in a large quantity of air, a magic circle formed in front of his mouth, "Lightning Dragon's Roar!"

The Saints eyes widened exponentially as a destructive current of electricity erupted from the mans mouth, destroying everything in its path.

"You're a Dragonslayer!?" Jose roared, raising a barrier to protect himself just as the blast struck. How is it that Makarov's grandson had this kind of magic? If what Gajeel told him was true, then that meant that it could only be taught by a dragon. It made absolutely zero sense for Laxus to have this power!

"Just what other powerful mages was that bastard hiding," The man cursed Makarov's name. It infuriated Jose to no end that the guild that stole his own guilds fame had such capable mages within it.

But it would no longer matter. Not after today at least. Cause once Jose was through with them, the world will only know Fairy Tail as the guild that he crushed out of existence.

But first.

Jose swiped his hand in a fashion that was much like a blade. The orb that surrounded him expanded, destroying the room around him and throwing Laxus back. The no longer secret Dragonslayer dug his feet into the floor, tearing up a small trench as he tried to keep himself anchored.

He was forced to dodge as a shade tried grabbing him from below before destroying it with a lightning infused punch. Raising his clenched fist to the air, Laxus chanted quietly under his breath.

"Resounding through the air, the roar of thunder, plunge from the heavens and reap destruction. Raging Bolt!" Shouting the last part Laxus brought his fist crashing down. In tandem with his actions, a large bolt of lightning broke through the ceiling directly above the dark wizard.

Without taking his eyes off Laxus, Jose raised his palm, firing a blast of dark energy that countered the attack. With his other hand aimed at the lightning mage he fired an identical blast, only for a ball of fire to set it off prematurely.

Jose growled as the smoke cleared to reveal Laxus, with Gray and Natsu flanking either side. "Just how many more of you pests are going to show up?"

Without missing a beat Laxus responded with, "As many as it takes!"

The two Dragonslayers charged forward while Gray hung back, launching a volley of ice lances. With as little effort as possible for him, Jose fended off the Dragonslayers while dodging Gray's ice attacks which he countered with his shades.

Seeing shades returning from outside, Laxus and Natsu enveloped themselves in their respective elements in order to keep the horde off of them. Twisting to avoid being grappled the lightning mage closed the distance between himself and Jose, his fist pulled back.

Jose moved to block the attack with his forearm, but the blonde transformed into a bolt of lightning and maneuvered behind him at the last second.

"Lightning Dragon's Iron Fist!"

The Wizard Saint grit his teeth as the attack met its mark, his body being racked with pain due to the electricity traveling up his spine. Laxus smirked at landing a solid hit, but it immediately vanished as Jose spun on his heel and connected a spinning back fist with his jaw, sending the S-class wizard into a wall.

"Laxus!"

Without turning around Jose caught Natsu's punch. Ignoring the fire that surrounded the limb Jose tightened his grip, lifting the fire mage completely off the ground before slamming him back down.

Spittle and a bit of blood flew from Natsu's mouth, the wind knocked out of him. He was helpless as Jose used him like a hammer, slamming him on the floor around him several more times before throwing him into the wall right next to Laxus.

Slowly walking after the two Dragonslayers, Jose was forced to stop as a wall of Ice formed between him and his targets. Following a trail of ice connected to the wall Jose spied Gray with his right palm touching the floor.

"Useless." With a simple wave of his hand Jose fired beam of dark magic at the ice mage who quickly threw up a shield of ice. The hastily crafted shield held for less than a second before shattering. Gray could do little more than bring his arms up at the last moment before getting shot back, crashing through the wall behind him.

Turning back towards the wall of ice, Jose reared his arm back and shattered it with a single punch. His eyes widened at what he saw on the other side.

Laxus and Natsu had managed to pull themselves from the wall. Both stood with their side to him and cheeks swollen with air.

"Lightning Dragon's/Fire Dragon's!"

Sensing the ludicrous amount of magic that was building up within them Jose reformed his magic barrier from before.

"ROAR!"

The duo's attack left their throats at the same time, fusing into one giant beam of pure destruction that put Laxus' previous roar to shame. The following explosion was so powerful that it could be seen by the others on the shoreline.

Back in the head of the giant, Laxus and Natsu stood on wobbly legs. Both had put every remaining drop of magic that they had left in to that combined attack and were now suffering the effects of magic exhaustion. It was a miracle that they were even standing at this point.

"...Shit!" Laxus cursed when the smoke cleared and revealed Jose to them. The barrier was severely damaged and even shattered in some places, but it had done its job.

"That was close...That was too close!" Jose had to put much more effort into maintaining his barrier, going so far as to use both hands to power the spell to keep it from breaking. It was a close call that he wasn't going to allow to happen again.

Bring his palm forward, Jose began to gather magic when he noticed that the entire structure was shaking. It was at that moment he sensed a large magic signature and that it was right behind him.

With swiftness that wasn't normally found in a man his age, Jose whipped around to see Mirajane on her knees, hugging herself and with tears streaming down her cheeks. But that wasn't why he focused on her. She didn't seem to notice it but the presence that he had detected was her and it was continuing to rise at an alarming rate.

" **RYYYUUUUU!"**

Like a ruptured damn that failed to hold back a flood, Mira's magic power exploded outwards, bathing everything around her in a blinding light. The wind picked up, forming a whirlwind around the distressed mage.

Jose shielded his face as the wind grew stronger and stronger as the floor around him cracked and shattered from the sheer magic power that the girl was releasing. 'W-what is this power!'

But just as fast as it had appeared, the pressure vanishing as a pulse of power swept throughout the room and beyond. The pulse also had the added effect of dispersing the whirlwind that had surrounded the woman.

Mirajane was still in the same position as before but now sported a Take Over that none of those present recognized.

Mira had grown horns made of long, sky blue scales that extended backwards to a pointed edge with the scales at the base extending to form a pattern on her face. Her ears, though hidden behind her new horns had become pointed, reminiscent of that of fictional elves. She gained a similar scale-like covering on her forearms and hands as well as on her legs. Another feature was the large, sky blue, stocky and seemingly aquatic tail that protrude from her tailbone. The last physical change were the two sky-blue wings that had grown from her back, but rather than feathers or a membrane skin, they appeared to be composed of numerous scales and were inverted.

Her torn and ruined clothes also changed, now replaced by a light and dark blue, striped, one-piece suit with pointed shoulder-pads, revealing her arms and legs, which was open on the front and the back. This left most of her stomach, wide cleavage, and upper back completely exposed.

Another thing to note was that unlike her other Take Over, Mira's hair had remained completely unchanged by the transformation.

"What that hell," Laxus's voice was barely a whisper as he observed Mira from the other side of the room. In the years that she had been in the guild, the lightning mage had never seen this Take Over. Scratch that, Mirajane had never even brought it up!

How did she keep this a secret? The amount of magic that radiated from her surpassed anything that he had felt before! The air around her was literally shimmering from her presence alone and she hadn't even stood up. 'Did Gramps know about this?'

Jose had lowered his arms by this point, now staring at the woman with an analytical glare. The girls power fluctuated sporadically, which in turn made it difficult to gage. But she would be no problem.

Just as he was about to raise his hand Mira finally moved. It was a small gesture, only turning her head slightly, allowing them all to see her face. Her normally beautiful features had been twisted into an ugly sneer and her previously blue orbs were now stark white and burning with hatred.

Though despite all of that her tears still flowed freely.

Emitting what could only be described as a feral growl, Mira leapt at the man with her fist cocked back. The Saint was more than easily able to dodge the poorly telegraphed attack, but as her fist soared passed his head, he watched as a blast of raw, unrefined magic decimate the other half of the room.

Luckily for the others, Laxus had understood what was about to happen and had grabbed hold of his guild mates and used what little magic he had to blitz out of there right as the place erupted. The three appeared back at the shoreline in a bolt of lightning, surprising all those present.

"Laxus," Erza forced her way through to the front of the crowd, kneeling next to them. "When did you get here? You know what, never mind that. What's happening? Where are Ryu and Mira?"

With a heavy sigh Laxus moved into a seated position, "Ryu's gone."

A heavy silence swept through the crowd, all of them staring at the lightning mage in shock. None more so than the redheaded knight.

"W-what?"

"Jose blew a hole the size of my fist through his heart." Laxus grit his teeth as the scene replayed in his mind. "Now Mira's going on a rampage."

"What do you mea-" As if to prove his words true, the head of the giant erupted in an enormous explosion. Two figures flew from the smoke and could be seen clashing in the distance. One of them was sent crashing into the water just before them, staying under for a split second before rocketing back out, allowing them all to see Mira in her new form.

Erza's eyes widened in recognition. "How was she able to access that power?"

Jaxus glanced in her direction, eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by that?"

"That form is known as Halphas. You were on a job at the time but Mira had used it against me in a spar a few years back. After seeing the destruction that she caused, the master had forbidden her from ever using it." A shockwave tore through the area, forcing them to shield their eyes. "If she doesn't get a hold of her emotions, Mira will end up destroying the whole city!"

"Well then, we definitely don't want that to happen."

Despite the battle that was going on just a few hundred meters away, everyone jumped at the new voice that pitched in.

Being the closest to the source, Erza equipped a long sword and swung to her side only for the blade to be stopped dead in its tracks. The requip mage's eyes went wide in horror as she recognized just who she had attacked. "G-Gin!?"

"Hello," the silver-haired Rune Knight said with a cheeky wave, completely disregarding the sword currently being held between his thumb and index finger. Another shockwave swept over them, making Gin glance in the direction of the two battling mages.

"Wow, they're really going at each other." Gin said, holding his hat to keep it from flying off due to the gale force winds.

"What are you even doing here?" questioned Erza. She found it very strange that Gin just happened to be stopping by for a visit just as all of this was going down.

"Got a call from Ryu not that long ago. He explained the situation to me and requested that I show up to help verify your guilds claims of retaliating in self defense. Rushed on over as fast as I could," He was cut off by another gust of wind as the battle raged on. "Damn, I always knew that Mirajane was a powerhouse but this is taking it to a whole other level. Ryu's really gonna have to step up his game if she keeps this rate of improvement going."

Laxus and the others mood took a dive at the mention of the Ryu, on the Gin was able to pick up on.

"What's with all of the long faces?"

"Your name's Gin right?" Laxus had never met the man before now, but Erza and the others clearly knew him. "If you're a friend of Ryu's...then I'm sorry to tell you that he didn't make it. Jose killed him."

The Rune Knight paused momentarily, frowning as he processed the information. Glancing out towards the stone giant he gave a lazy wave. "Nope, he's still alive."

Everyone stared at him in confusion, none more so than Laxus. "What! But I saw-"

Gin raised his hand, silencing Laxus before he can even get warmed up. "Oh, he's hurting. There's no denying that. But trust me when I say that he isn't down for the count just yet."

The silver-haired man returned his gaze to the water and shouted, "Isn't that right, Ryu!?"

There was a moment of complete silence as Gin's question echoed across the water. It lasted only a moment more before it was met with a response.

* * *

They had clashed dozens of times by now and Jose was finally able to get a grasp of what was going on. The girl had completely lost all sense of control. There was no coordination, no method to her attacks and bursts of magic.

She was completely blinded by her rage and was just allowing her magic to seize control of her. Armed with this new information, Jose was able to swing the flow of the battle back in his favor. Rather than meet her blow for blow, he dodged or diverted her attacks, making room to land counters of his own.

He was no longer receiving any damage and conserving his power, while the enraged Mirajane was the complete opposite. Her attacks, while fast, were telegraphed and easy to avoid. To top it off with how much wasted energy she put into them meant that she was tiring out very quickly.

Dodging another one of her sloppy punches, Jose maneuvered so that he was now positioned behind her, a magic seal already formed in his hand. Several shades appeared from it, quickly ensnaring the Take Over mage in their grasp.

Mira fought and struggled with all her might but the shades held firm, slowly choking the life out of her. With a strangled cry her magic faded away, reverting her to her base form and ceasing her struggles.

"For a mage of your caliber to be apart of such a pathetic guild infuriates me to no end," Jose spat out as he reached into his pocket and retrieved the crystal that had been given to him by the cloaked stranger. Clenching it tightly the crystal glowed a deep purple as he felt his magic reserves return to full, "To think that accursed Sato forced me to use this and that you would drain me of so much energy."

"But, it's all inconsequential now." Aiming his palm towards her, charging up another magic seal. "I'll eliminate you then proceed do wipe out the rest of your meddlesome guild fa-"

The empowered Wizard Saint stumbled as a heavy pressure swept throughout the area that was accompanied by a giant pillar of white light that surrounded Mirajane. Upon contact with the energy, the shades holding her in place disintegrated. With nothing to support her, Mira plumuted towards the water below but was caught just at the surface.

Exhausted in both body and spirit, Mira was barely able to make out the face of Ryu staring down at her. "R-Ryu?"

A gentle smile found a way to his lips. "Yeah, it's me. Sorry I took so long."

"How?" She had seen him fall. Saw the hole that took up the space his heart should've been in. Mirajane knew that his regenerative abilities were far beyond anything that she had seen before, bet even he couldn't have regrown his heart.

"...I promise that I'll explain everything soon. But first I need to take care of Jose," he said as he walked towards the shore. Ryu was aware of the many eyes that were currently on him. It only made sense. Though his arm had regrown, most of his wounds had yet to fully heal and still bled.

"Elfman!" The man in question pushed his way to the front, the Arrancar easily handed Mira off to him. As he did so, everyone's eyes widened and they all took a step back in shock. Now that he wasn't holding her, Mirajanes body no longer hid the hole in his chest from view.

As they began mumbling to themselves Ryu caught a glance of Gin off the to side. "Gin...don't let anyone else interfere. Restrain them if you have to."

His friend only nodded, but then gestured to Jose who still hovered above them, equally as shocked as the rest of them. "Should I expect to cuff him once this is all over."

"...No." Drawing his horribly chipped and broken Zanpakuto, Ryu slowly rose into the sky until he was at the same height as Jose.

"How!?" Jose spoke through grit teeth as he shook in barely restrained rage. "HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE!?"

"You should feel honored." Ignoring the question Ryu raised his blade to the side so that it was even with his shoulders. "It's been over two years since I last used this form so you'll have to forgive me if I'm a little rusty."

The wizard's eyes went wide at his statement. "You're a Take Over mage!?"

"Take Over? No, what I use isn't magic." Ryu was enveloped in a white hue, "This, this is Resurreccion."

"Incinerate."

The sword in his grasp suddenly erupted into white flames before being burned away, handle and all.

"Olvido!"

.

.

.

 **-End-**


	14. Chapter 14

**Zrocker119:** **Was going to wait a little longer before posting this, but I then I though screw it. Enjoy.**

 **A Hollow's Fairy Tail**

 **-Start-**

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"Olvido!"

Everything went white. With a single word, the floodgates that held Ryu's power at bay shattered, his spiritual pressure flooded throughout the town like a great tidal wave of white fire. And in the center of the storm was a pair of glowing red eyes.

Jose found himself being forced to summon his barrier in order to fight against the ever-increasing force of the wave and not get thrown back. And then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the burst of energy halted in its advance and began to recede back into the one who had released it in the first place.

The red orbs glaring into Jose cut out as the energy receded completely, revealing Ryu's once more to all who were present.

Given how much energy the young man had released, the transformation wasn't as drastic as the Saint had expected. The shredded clothes from before were now gone, now wearing only a pair of white hakama pants and his feet were covered in armor, his toes blackened and tipped to a razor's edge.

His forearms were covered in a bone-like carapace that ended in clawed fingers. The armor crept up the outer side of his arms and over the shoulders, coming together at the back of his neck.

From that point it traveled down his spine, only branching out to cover every other rib. His hair hadn't changed, the only difference being that it was no longer held up and allowed to fall freely, reaching all the way down to his shoulder blades.

The last big change to Ryu's appearance was the lack of his signature mask, though the skin that lay underneath was several tones lighter than the rest of his body so the effect was still there, and now had two large, upwards facing horns sprouting from his temples.

And then Ryu opened his eyes.

The Wizard Saint struggled to stay airborne as the air felt like it was going to collapse on top of him.

Those that waited below weren't spared either as even the strongest members amongst Fairy Tail were forced to take a knee.

The guild hall, its structural integrity compromised by the fighting and was already struggled to hold its own weight, collapsed due to the sudden increase in pressure.

Then it was gone. The invisible force that threatened to crush everything was lifted and everyone could breathe easily once again.

"Sorry about that." The stunning silence was shattered as Ryu observed his hands, clenching and unclenching them repeatedly as if he couldn't quite remember how to use them. "But as I said, it's been some time since I've used this form."

"W-What are you?" Jose couldn't stop his hands from trembling, his eyes locked on the very visible hole that bore straight through the red head's chest. Exactly where his heart should've been beating. "You're not human!"

That earned a slight shake from Ryu. That shaking turned into a small chuckle before quickly falling into full-blown laughter.

"You're right." He sent Jose a deadly grin, his slightly sharper and more pronounced canines seemingly gleaming in the sunlight. "But that doesn't matter."

A subtle switch of the hand was the only warning Jose received before Ryu disappeared from sight. Sensing him to his left, Jose's arm snapped out, ready to unleash a wave of darkness that would blanket the space beside him. But just as he began to release his power, an armored hand grasped him by the face from the exact opposite direction.

Jose was thrown through the air, flipping head over heels as he tried to stabilize his impromptu flight. After several hundred meters he managed to right himself. Gathering his magic he moved to use the distance he had gained to his advantage and blast the brat from afar, only to see the Fairy was already on top of him with his fist pulled back.

Reacting on instinct Jose shoved his magically charged hand forward, catching the fist in his palm, and even though the force behind the attack was enough to drive his arm back, Jose was able to hold his ground. However, the grin left his face when he felt Ryu's other fist, moving faster than his eyes could track, embed itself in his stomach.

Spittle and blood flew from his mouth and his face contorted as he let out a silent cry of agony, one that only worsened when Ryu twisted his fist whilst it was still in his guts, before finally pulling it out. Jose bent forward in pain. A reflexive instinct that Ryu capitalized on with a hammer blow to the back of his skull, sending him plummeting into the waters below.

He didn't stay down for long though, rocketing back up at speeds that someone his age didn't have a right to, unleashing dozens upon dozens of shades that were quick to ensnare the Arrancar.

Ryu was quickly encased in the white flames granted to him by his resurrection. All of the wraith-like shadows were burnt away before they could even get close. Raising an open palm, Ryu caught Jose by the wrist.

Seeing that his surprise attack had failed, Jose attempted to pull back, only for Ryu to twisted his body and throw the wizard over his shoulder, away from the shore and out into open water.

Sparing a glance down to his guildmates, Ryu bounced lightly in place, rolling his shoulders and neck to loosen up his muscles before crouching and launching himself after his foe.

Catching up to the wizard in record time, Ryu's arms became a blur as he unleashed a flurry of punches, each having enough force to generate shockwaves.

For how off guard he had been caught, Jose did an admirable job at defending himself from the redhead's onslaught. But it was all for naught because for every blow he managed to avoid or block, a dozen more hit an unguarded area.

Deflecting a punch that could hit his kidney, Jose, in an amazing display of flexibility, bent backwards in a way that shouldn't have been possible for a man his age, flipping back to put some distance between.

But that turned out to be a mistake.

Within the few moments that Jose had lost sight of him, the Arrancar had disappeared. He was just gone. Before he could even begin to wonder where his foe had disappeared, Ryu was back in his sights. The problem being that he was now above him, leg poised for a brutal axe kick.

With his current position compromising his ability to defend himself, Jose created a barrier around his skull and did his best to brace for impact as the leg dropped.

The shield may as well have not existed for it offered no resistance to the Arrancar, shattering instantly, followed by the deafening crack of his heel impacting against the man's skull.

Flipping through the air, Jose's body hit the water with a crash, hitting the rock bed and creating a geyser of water reaching several hundred feet in the air.

Ryu stared impassively as the choppy water settled back down. Several seconds passed and nothing happened, he let out a sigh and spoke with crossed arms. "Enough. Other than that gut shot, I know that you hardly felt those."

Seeing that the jig was up the Wizard Saint calmly rose from the water. Other than his clothes being dripping wet and messed about, he didn't appear to be injured in the slightest, sporting a confident smirk.

"What was it that gave me away?"

"The change in your fighting style," Ryu revealed like he was casually commenting on the weather. "Before you focused mostly on throwing shades and magic blasts. But now you're hardly using them. If you were really trying to kill me, then you wouldn't have switched your tactics."

Jose's slow clap echoed for all those watching to hear. But it wasn't mocking in the slightest as the dark mage was genuinely impressed by the young man's observation. "How very astute of you. With your level of power and intelligence, I can see why you were the one that came to face me."

"Flattery won't save you," Ryu responded dryly. "But from this point onwards, I would suggest taking this fight seriously." A wall of flame flared behind him which then condensed into dozens of bladed weapons. Each and every one of the poised towards the Wizard Saint. "Cause I'm done playing around."

"...Very well then," Jose's eyes took on an even darker tone as he flexed his magical might, enveloping him in a pillar of darkness. With but a gesture of his hand he summoned forth a wave of shades that immediately began to flood toward the lone Arrancar.

The redhead didn't falter but instead chose to respond in kind as he let loose his projected weapons. Fire met shade, becoming a literal battle of light and dark. For every weapon or shade that was destroyed, there was a dozen more to fill the vacancy.

Seeing that their respective barrages could go on for some time, Ryu took the initiative and blurred out of sight.

Feeling the hairs on his neck stand up, Jose spun on his heels and lashed out with a devastating back hand that rocked Ryu's jaw. But the mage didn't come out of the exchange unscathed as the annoying fairy used the momentum he gained from the blow to twist his body in a way that allowed him to retaliate with a kick to the side of Jose's head.

Dazed, he was only able to bring his guard back up after being on the receiving end of a barrage of punches that rocked his whole body. His bones barely holding together under the strain. Deflecting another punch, Jose countered by pressing hand to Ryu's kidney and unleashed a dark pulse upon contact.

Feeling an organ or two nearly rupture from the blow Ryu summoned a sword to his offhand and went on the attack, but only managed to graze the Saint's arm before the man retureted and summon forth dozens of shades that immediately swarmed him.

Armed with fire and blades, the Arrancar hacked, slashed and burned his way through the swarming mass, launching more blades the moment he broke free. While the barrage was easily dodged by the wizard, it provided him with an opportunity to close the distance that Jose had created.

But his opponent was not one to be easily distracted. Shadows twisted and contorted around him, stabbing outward whenever Ryu tried to get close. Trusting in his body's natural durability and enhanced healing, Ryu forced himself to plow through and ignore the dozens of wounds that were being inflicted upon him.

Wide-eyed at the man's high pain tolerance, Jose barely managed to form a sword to block the one that threatened to bisect him in two. Staring dead into Ryu's eyes, his own widened even further when he saw a glow emanating from behind the Fairy's grit teeth.

Before he could begin to retreat, Ryu's teeth parted, unleashing the cero he had been charging but it was different from the ones that the others had seen previously as the core was pitch black and had a white outline.

The blast was so powerful that it encompassed the two and their immediate surroundings instantly. The concussive blast reached all the way to the shoreline, forcing many to shield their gaze, while the smoke that followed made it difficult for those watching to tell just what the hell was going on.

Within the center of the cloud Ryu let out a long sigh, believing that the release of a cero oscuras had been enough to finish the fight. The moment of victory was short-lived, however, when Jose blindsided him with a magically enhanced haymaker.

The resulting concussive wave parted the lingering remains of the cloud. The Arrancar skidded back several meters before his feet found traction and managing to stay upright. Working his jaw Ryu spat out a glob of blood, along with a tooth that grew back seconds later.

Turning his attention back to Jose, he saw that the master of Phantom Lord wasn't fairing too well. While he had survived the cero oscuras from point blank range, a feat that few could boast, it had come at a heavy price.

For the wizard's left arm was entirely disintegrated. A smoldering shoulder being all that remained.

But when Jose continued to bring forth yet another wave of shades, Ryu knew that something was off. With that amount of power Jose was throwing around, he should've been showcasing some signs of magical exhaustion by now.

But he was still going as if he hadn't wasted a drop the entire time.

Little did Ryu know that Jose's thoughts mirrored his own.

'This doesn't make any sense. I've long since figured out that this brat isn't using magic, but his power has to come from some sort of source, yet he's still fighting at the same capacity as before. If anything he's getting even faster.' Jose wracked his brain for an answer as to how this was possible yet couldn't draw any conclusions that made sense.

"Where are you drawing your power from!" Using his remaining hand Jose lashed out in anger with a dark pulse that split into a dozen smaller blasts. His rage grew when each was easily dodged by the accursed fairy. "You should've run dry by now!"

"I could say the same for you." The redhead was suddenly in his face and had already started raining blows upon him before he could even bring up a proper guard. His lack of a second arm really showed through as he could barely put up any sort of defense.

A particularly brutal gut punch, followed by a cross to his cheek left the wizard in a daze, causing his flight to momentarily drop. Taking advantage of the man's sudden loss of balance, Ryu kept up the assault, his body becoming alight with fire. Blow after blow the two climbed higher into the sky, before finishing off with a heel drop.

* * *

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"T-this is unreal."

Though Natsu was the one that spoke, his words carried a sentiment that was shared by the rest of the guild as they stood by and watched the battle reaches its climax. A strong wind forced many of them to brace themselves or be blown away by the sheer power that the two titans of magic were releasing.

The only ones not all that affected by the gales were Gin, Laxus, Erza and Mirajane, the latter of which had recovered enough of her strength to stand without support.

"It's over," Gin stated when he saw the extent of the damage dealt by the oscuras. Whereas Jose stood a chance before, the loss of his limb left him at a huge disadvantage. These thoughts were confirmed moments later when the tide of the battle quickly shifted and proceeded to stay in Ryu's favor.

"How are they both still fighting," voiced Laxus. "With how intense this battle is, you'd think they would've at least slowed down. But they're still moving at the same pace."

Gin held his chin in thought. "While the means of which Jose is able to is beyond my knowledge, I do know how Ryu's able to." He spared a glance at Mira. "Has he ever told you about the Espada?"

"The Espada?" Mira thought back on all the conversations that the two had shared. A few seconds passed and she shook her head negative. "Sorry, but he's never mentioned anything by that name."

"I see." Returning his attention back to the fight Gin continued speaking. "To keep things brief, the Espada was a group of ten figures of power in a similar manner to the Wizard Saints. Ryu was given the rank zero, the strongest of order."

"There's more to it than that though. Other than the rank and the opportunity to form their own Fraccion, the Espada was also granted an aspect of death to govern."

The resulting silence amongst the group was all but deafening, filled only by the sounds of the ongoing battle before them.

"What the hell are you talking about!" growled Laxus. Govern an aspect of death? What the hell kind of bullshit was this guy trying to feed them. But Gin ignored the outburst and continued on with his explanation.

"Rage. Solitude. Aging. Sacrifice. Emptiness. Despair. Destruction. Intoxication. Madness. Greed." Gin spoke words that at first seemed to hold little meaning to the conversation at hand. But the next words he spoke sent chills down everyone's spine. "All of these are aspects of death. And each Espada holds sway over one of them."

"And which was given to him?" When Mira spoke she, for the first time, turned away from the fight to look directly at the Rune Knight. "What is the aspect that Ryu governs?"

Other than the sounds of battle, the air between them was completely silent. For a moment Mirajane thought that he would refuse to give her an answer, when at last he spoke.

"His aspect is fear. All worries, insecurities and every other word for it fall directly under his jurisdiction, allowing him to take in all of those emotions and use them as a source to draw from and replenish his strength."

Another concussive wave echoed through the area, forcing them to shield their eyes. Though they noted that the blast grew weaker and weaker with each one that followed. It would seem that the battle would soon reach its end.

* * *

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Blood seeped from the many wounds that littered Jose's aged body, soaking through his clothes and staining the once pristine uniform. The sole reason he hadn't passed out from blood loss was due to the unbridled hatred for the one who was responsible for the wizard saint's current state.

Never before did Jose believe he could loathe one as much as he did Makarov, but now even that couldn't compare to the overwhelming rage he directed at this man, this monster that stood before him. The one that had barred his path towards revenge, taken his arm, and trampled his pride.

And ever since Sato had undergone his transformation, not once had he verbally lashed out. All he had shown while trading blows with a man that was aiming to kill him, was utter indifference, as if the whole battle was nothing more than a small obstacle to overcome.

Reaching into his coat, Jose once more drew upon the magic energy stored within the crystal that was given to him. How the stranger had come across such an object he would never know, but it was the only reason he was even able to keep up anymore.

With a fresh supply of ethernano flowing into him, the pain of his injuries faded to the back of his mind. But he was no fool. If this continued on for much longer and Jose didn't receive medical attention soon, then he would die.

Raising his palm to the sky, the maddened wizard focused and began gathering energy.

'One last spell,' he thought as tendrils krept across his vision. 'All will end with this last spell.'

* * *

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When Ryu felt Jose's magic return to full capacity yet again and put distance between them, his eyes narrowed. Before he would have simply re-engage with either his shades or blasts of magic.

Not liking this one bit, Ryu decided to take this moment to refill his reserves as well and drew upon the emotional turmoil of all those present. His guildmates weren't spared from this. While the knowledge of using those he saw as family and rendering them little more than batteries caused his stomach to turn, if it meant that they would be safe then he would endure the discomfort.

A spike of magic brought him out of his thoughts and Ryu saw that Jose's sheer magic presence was causing storm clouds to form above them. He had heard rumors that a battle between two wizard saint level mages could cause shifts in the weather, but to experiencing it first hand really put into perspective just how powerful humans in this reality could become.

"I'm putting an end to this farce!" If it was possible, Jose's appearance had become even more sickly. His skin was now ghostly white, the veins around his eyes had become engorged and now glowed a purple hue, his eyes had lost all traces of sanity and were completely blacked.

"I'll wipe out you, your guild and the rest of this town off the face of Earthland! Never again will I be looked down upon!" With as much magic focused into his hand as possible, Jose brought the limb crashing down, leaving a trail of shades in its wake. "DEAD WAVE!"

The name was an apt description for the spell, as that was exactly what Jose unleashed. A tidal wave of darkness magic erupted from his palm that closed the distance to Ryu at a frightening pace.

With hardly any time to prep, the arrancar was left with little options and threw out his palms. The armored carapace on his arms was shattered within seconds. The skin beneath becoming little more than chard flesh an instant later. The pain was immense as his healing repaired the damaged nerves. It was unlike anything that had come before it, but he held still. He refused to let the attack pass him by.

Ryu felt himself getting forced closer and closer toward the rest of the guild. He pumped more and more power into his arms, but he just felt Jose somehow increase his output further. It wasn't till his feet touched stone that he spared a glance behind him. The hope filled gazes of his guildmates stared right back.

Their mouths were moving, but their words were muted. Nothing could be heard over the roaring darkness that he was struggling to hold back. But he knew what it was that they were doing. They were cheering him on. Putting all of their hopes on him.

And despite the direness of his situation, Ryu couldn't keep the somber smile from his face. These...these were people worth dying for. He had withheld his true nature, deceived them for years, and yet they were willing to bet everything on him.

A small voice in his mind whispered that it was only in the heat of the moment, and that their opinion would shift soon after the danger passes. That he would be shunned a be left with no other choice but to leave and start over yet again.

He knew this voice well, for it was the same one that kept him from revealing his hollow hole to the woman that he loved.

But he wouldn't listen anymore.

Snapping his head forward, Ryu eyes glowed white, a fiery aura enveloping him as he tapped into the depths of his own fear. The pain and fatigue faded away, replaced with strength the likes of which he had never felt before.

Unknown to him but visible to those that cheered him on, was to sight of his spiritual pressure slowly bleeding from white to black. But before it could shift completely, Ryu let out a primal roar that snuffed out all other sounds.

His aura shifted back to its normal white, becoming a tangible flame that spread outwards in front of him and willed it forward. The fire obeys its master's commands, enveloping the darkness, reaching all the way up to Jose, who was forced to cut the attack off for fear of being ensnared as well.

With its supply of power cut off, Ryu used the flames to force it into the shape of a sphere, one that was dozens of meters in diameter. From there he compact it onto itself, growing smaller and smaller with each passing moment before being no larger than an apple that hovered between his hands.

Once it was at that stage he slammed his palms together, snuffing out the attack that would've wiped them all out, but it wasn't without cost.

The damage that Ryu had sustained from taking blast was severe. He could no longer move his arms, now covered with third degree burns. They would recover with time, but not before this battle was over.

Not that it would matter. He had fought without his arms before and could do it again. Summoning what little strength he still had, Ryu slowly began to make his way back up towards his foe, only for a hand to grab him by the shoulder.

He snapped back to glare at the one that had halted his advance, but the sight of Mirajane's tearful gaze caused all the fight he had to slip away. As he was pulled into her warm embrace, Ryu became aware of just how exhausted he was.

"You've done enough. Let someone else finish it," he heard her say. Subconsciously reverting back to his sealed state, Ryu allowed himself to breathe easily and rest his head on her shoulder. The last thing he saw before falling asleep was the Gin walking passed.

Meanwhile Jose had retreated back into the head of his mobile fortress and was frozen in disbelief at his strongest spell being negated. Even after all the strength he had put into it, the damned redhead still refused to perish. While still processing just what the hell had transpired, he failed to notice two things.

First was the man that appeared just a few feet from him, while the second was that the crystal held within his pocket was now cracked, pulsing ever so subtlety.

"Well then," Gin spoke in a way that was too cheerful for the situation at hand, "seeing as how you're alone and are gravely injured, now would be a good time to remember, despite everything, that surrender is still an option."

"...Surrender." Jose's voice was but a whisper, but Gin heard him nonetheless. "You, you would have me believe, that this war would end in a way that didn't result in the complete annihilation of that acurrsed guild."

Gin merely stared as the man spat at his feet.

"You think that I am defeated," His hand reached into his coat and grabbed hold of the crystal once more. "I'll sho-"

He felt himself voluntarily lerch back as if struck. A sudden coldness spread through his body, starting with his chest. As blood began to steadily trickle from his mouth, the wizard saint turned his gaze downward. His eyes widening at the sight of the hole that went through his heart.

'W-when did that get there.'

"Korose," Gin's hand moved forward, stopping only when it rested against the wizard's chest, "Kamishini no Yari." The former shinigami captain watched with an impassive gaze as Jose's body was broken down and dissolved on a molecular level faster than the man could begin to process his death.

Some might say that it's overkill, but Gin had watched the man go blow for blow with Ryu's Resurreccion and somehow recuperate his magic just as fast as it was spent. He was taking no more chances.

He had begun to make his way back to the others, when he noticed something fall from within the dust. It was a blacked crystal about half the size of his palm. He was barely able to make out the crack that ran up along its side before noticing the quickening pulses of magic emanating from it.

Gin had a second to analyze the object before the entire giant was enveloped within a destructive vortex of magic energy.

* * *

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Unbeknownst to all that had been affected by the warring guilds, was that they were being watched. Several miles from the Magnolia a man sat underneath the shade provided by a tree. Within their hand was a lacrima from which they had watched the entire war unfold before their eyes.

Upon seeing the crystal that had been given to Jose suffer catastrophic damage from overuse and subsequently self destruct, the man tucked the lacrima into his jacket, rummaging around before he retrieved a pack of cigarettes and lighter.

Striking one up and taking a drag, he leaned back against the tree.

"Gonna have to ask Sammy to make some adjustments."

The man could be considered handsome. With long blond hair that was set into a ponytail and a thin goatee. His eyes were a dull red, almost black in color. His clothes consisted of a simple suit black suit and red shirt.

The man let out a puff of smoke. "But other than the whole explosion thing, the crystals performed as expected." Something vibrated from within his pocket, earning an exaggerated groan from the man.

Sitting up the man put out his smoke and retrieved a lacrima that was different from normal, being in the shape of a small slate rather than the usual sphere.

"...how does this damn thing work again?" The man fumbled about as he tried to get it to work, the thing vibrating throughout the whole process. He totally didn't let out a shout of success once he figured it out.

Clearing his throat the man rested it against his ear and spoke. "This is Krus."

"...I see. The usual place?...Alright, see you in a week." Hanging up and returning the lacrima back to the depth of his jacket, the now named Krus decided to lay on the cool grass and enjoy the gentle breeze. It would be one of the few times that he could for the foreseeable future.

* * *

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Opening his eyes, Ryu found himself lying in an unfamiliar bed with an equally unfamiliar ceiling above him. He moved to sit himself up, but the moment he so much a twitched his arms caused them to flare up in pain. So much so that he was barely able to stifle the cry that threatened to spill from his lips.

Steeling his nerves for something he will no doubt come to regret, Ryu quickly sat up. His premonition proved true and had to bite his tongue to keep himself from letting out a roar of agony. It was by far one of the most painful experiences of his current life as it felt like someone had replaced his bones with crushed glass.

But Ryu fought through the pain and succeeded in propping himself up. Taking deliberately slow and steady breaths, he was able to blink away the blur that had taken over his gaze and realized that he was in what appeared to be someone's home.

Now knowing where he was the redhead turned his attention to himself. The first thing that he noticed was that he had been stripped down to his undergarments. His chest was bare, leaving his hollow hole completely exposed.

He had already revealed that little tidbit to the guild before the final confrontation so that wasn't as concerning as the fact that his left arm was gone and that the other was completely wrapped in bandages. Ones that were bleeding through in some places. Taking a quick stock of his spiritual energy, Ryu saw that his reserves were all but completely drained.

Almost every last drop had been used up in his fight against Jose. The little that remained was barely enough to sustain himself. It was no wonder his wounds had yet to heal. His reserves would refill eventually, but it would be several weeks before he would be back to full strength.

The sound of a door opening pulled Ryu's attention away from himself and to the one that had entered, coming eye to eye with a surprised enderly woman that he hadn't met before.

She was quite tall and had long pink hair. The two stared at one another for a moment before the woman let out a scoff.

"Why am I not surprised that you're awake already." She grabbed a few supplies from the cupboards and approached him. "I swear every member of this guild has a death wish. Hold still."

"Excuse me bu-" Ryu let out what could only be described as a high pitched yelp as the woman raised his arm and began to undo the bandages of his remaining arm.

"Be quiet. You wouldn't want to wake them now would you?"

Following her gaze Ryu saw that he hadn't been quite as alone as he thought. Lying in the next bed over was a heavily bandaged and asleep Gin. Seated in a chair right beside himself though and resting her head on the bedside table was Mirajane. She must have been there for some time as he hair wasn't quite as neat as she usually had it.

Breathing evenly as she slept Ryu noticed that there were trails of dried tears on her cheeks. No doubt caused by worrying about himself.

He hissed in pain as the last of the bandages were removed, allowing him to see that several layers of skin was missing from his arm, leaving nerves and muscle tissue exposed.

"Your arms were badly burned. So much so that they couldn't be saved and had to be amputated. Mirajane informed me of the extent of your ability to heal, so I trust that this won't be too much of an issue?"

He shook his head before speaking in a soft tone as to not wake the others. "Once I have time to recover my strength, I'll be good as new. How long have I been out?"

"Three days," he hissed as she started to apply an ointment to his wounds. The immediate pain caused by this was soon replaced by a cool, numbing sensation as the medicinal properties began to take effect.

Damn. Ryu couldn't remember the last time he had been unconscious for that long. "I don't think we've ever met. Ryu Sato."

"Porlyusica," she introduced herself, "now be quiet. I can barely stand having people in my house as it is. Now that you can actually speak just makes it that much more unbearable."

Ryu took the not so subtle hint and kept any questions he had to himself, staying silent while Porlyusica re-wrapped his wounds in clean bandages, doing the same with Gin before leaving once more.

Once she had left Ryu finally spoke. "How much longer do you plan on faking?"

Knowing that the jig was up, Mira let out a tired sigh. "Just long enough for her to leave. I'm surprised that she even let me stay as long as I have." She gave him a look over, taking care to not let her gaze linger on the hole in his chest. "How are you feeling?"

That wasn't the question Mira wanted to ask and she was aware that he knew that.

"I'll recover eventually." As carefully as possible, Mirajane took his hand into her own. There was some discomfort, the ointment had done wonders for the pain. The two stayed like this for several minutes. Neither speaking a word. But it didn't last.

The tears couldn't be held back any longer and trailed down her cheeks, "When you threw me out of the way, and I saw the hole." Her whole body shook at this point, "I thought that I had lost you."

"But you didn't," It tore Ryu apart to see the woman that he loved in this state. He slowly brought his hand up to her cheek and brushed away her tears. "Sure I got a bit banged up and the guild was destroyed, but everything worked out in the end."

She took his hand in both of hers and pressed her lips against the bandages.

A moment passed before Mirajane's gaze finally settled on the hole through his heart. "Has it always…" Ryu took a deep breath and nodded. "Why did you hide it from me?"

"Cause I was afraid that you would look at me differently." He answered honestly, no matter how painful it was to admit.

There was a hurtful look on Mira's face when he said that. "Do you really think that I'm so petty? That what we have means so little to me?"

"What I am is something that shouldn't exist!" The calmness that Ryu always displayed cracked as his emotions leaked through. "I was dead Mira! Dead! For a second time! And something, for reasons that I haven't the slightest idea as to why, decided that I was worth saving even if I didn't want to be."

"But then I met you," he spoke much quieter now, tears falling from his eyes. "Joined the guild. Found a place that I truly belonged. But when I saw us growing closer, the fear of you finding out what I truly was drove me to hide the nature of my existence."

"Then please," Mira pleaded, "Explain it to me. I want to understand why you thought it was necessary to hide this. Please Ryu."

"...Alright," his voice was naught but a whisper. "I'll tell you."

And Ryu did. He told her everything about what he was. About how he first awoke in the harsh white desert of Hueco Mundo and what he had to do in order to survive. When he met Nel and took her under his protection and eventually evolved into a Vasto Lorde, earning the attention of the powers that be.

He told her about how he became an Arrancar and his time amongst the Espada. How he found a father figure within Starrk, his friendly rivalry with Grimmjow and the respect he held for Aizen. Of how his memories slowly came back to him and how he discovered the truth behind his death.

Ryu spoke for hours and throughout it all Mirajane listened. Never questioning, never interrupting.

"I died sitting against my sister's grave stone." Ryu throat was dry, having never spoken for so long before. "I felt every last bit of the strength I had worked so hard for slip away, and I didn't care...then I awoke in a forest as if nothing had happened."

"At first I was confused, and then there was nothing but anger." He let out a laugh, one with a distinct bitterness to it. "Out of everyone that had died in that pointless war, something chose me. It was shortly afterwards that I came across you, Lisanna and Elfman. And well you know the rest."

He was finished with his tale, and Mira sat quietly. Still processing all that Ryu had laid before her. It was so much to take in...but she couldn't help but be a bit disappointed in him.

"And you thought this was worth keeping hidden from the guild, from me?" Mira raised a hand and chopped Ryu right on the center of his head. She was none too gentle about it either.

Ryu let out a yelp, instinctively rubbing the area that had been struck, only to let out another due to aggravating his arm.

Mira shook her head. "For such a smart man, you really are a dumbass."

"What the hel-"

"Shut it!" Ryu wisely held his tongue at the sharp look he was on the receiving end of. "I'll let you in on a well known secret that somehow flew over your head. Your past. The truth about your powers. It doesn't matter, Ryu."

"Who cares if you're missing a muscle in your chest? That you had, _had_ to eat souls in order to survive? My siblings and I literally do the same damn thing and no one at the guild bats an eye."

Leaning forward Mira took his face in both hands, her gaze losing the sharpness from before. "None of us care about who you were, Ryu. We let you into the guild, our family, not because you were strong. But because you were just like the rest of us. Someone that was lost and didn't have anywhere else to turn to."

"So stop worrying." Now it was her turn to wipe the tears from Ryu's eyes as she leaned in and rested her forehead against his. "It's not just you anymore. Let us take some of the weight and help carry you forward."

His hand reached up to rest on the back of her head and Mira felt him shake with silent tears.

"Thank you." She heard him whisper. "for not pushing me away."

Mirajane gave him a deep, passion filled kiss that lasted several seconds before separating and smiled. "I love you, Ryu. And you'll have to try a hell of a lot harder if you want that to change."

Ryu smiled as well. "Wouldn't even dream of it."

Things were gonna be different, and not just for themselves. Phantom Lord was finished. There was now a powergap in the Saint's. And Fairy Tail was at the center of it all.

The two lovers knew this. But neither could bring themselves to care. All that mattered was that they and those they loved were safe. The consequences for their actions can come crashing down all that they liked. But Ryu, Mira, and Fairy Tail will weather the storm. And they'll do it together.

 **-End-**

 **Zrocker119:** **Fun fact, without these AN, this chapter is exactly 7k words.**


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